--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So it is the old meat after all, no…" description: "\"“So it is the old meat after all, no matter how old. Because if memory exists outside of the flesh it wont be memory because it wont know what it remem..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/william-faulkner-306_grief_so-it-is-the-old-meat-after-all-no-matte_1710871.png" --- # So it is the old meat after all, no matter how old… ![“So it is the old meat after all, no matter how old. Because if memory exists outside of the flesh it wont be memory because it wont know what it remembers so when she became not then half of memory became not and if I become not then all of remembering will cease to be. --Yes he thought Between…” quote by William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/william-faulkner-306_grief_so-it-is-the-old-meat-after-all-no-matte_1710871.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/william-faulkner-306_grief_so-it-is-the-old-meat-after-all-no-matte_1710871.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/william-faulkner-306_grief_so-it-is-the-old-meat-after-all-no-matte_1710871.png) > ““So it is the old meat after all, no matter how old. Because if memory exists outside of the flesh it wont be memory because it wont know what it remembers so when she became not then half of memory became not and if I become not then all of remembering will cease to be. --Yes he thought Between grief and nothing I will take grief.”” [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory is tied to the living body; when the body ceases, memory loses its meaning and existence. **In simple terms:** Memory depends on a living mind. Key Takeaway Recognize the fragility of memory. Themes mortality memory identity grief Mood melancholy contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - aging - loss - personal reflection - writing - therapy Key Concepts existentialism philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does loss change what we remember? - Can stories preserve memory beyond death? A Different Perspective Memory may persist in cultural artifacts despite physical death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) ## Related quotes > [“Because if memory exists outside of the flesh it won't be memory because it won't know what it remembers so when she became not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/because-if-memory-exists-outside-of-the-flesh-it-won-t-be-memory/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Friendship is indispensable to man for the proper function of his memory. Remembering our past, carrying it with us always, may be the necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/friendship-is-indispensable-to-man-for-the-proper-function-of-his/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I always thought of grief as a blow that took everything out of you. And it is like that. But it stays, past that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-scott/i-always-thought-of-grief-as-a-blow-that-took-everything-out-of-you/) [Elizabeth Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-scott/) > [Our lives ... are but a little while, so let them run as sweetly as you can, and give no thought to grief from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/our-lives-are-but-a-little-while-so-let-them-run-as-sweetly-as-you/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [I began to know my story then. Like everybody's, it was going to be the story of living in the absence of the dead.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-began-to-know-my-story-then-like-everybody-s-it-was-going-to-be-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [How little remains of the man I once was, save the memory of him! But remembering is only a new form of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/how-little-remains-of-the-man-i-once-was-save-the-memory-of-him-but/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I didn’t understand grief. I thought grief was something that happened when someone you love dies, not when they are still alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheri-davies/i-didn-t-understand-grief-i-thought-grief-was-something-that-happened/) Cheri Davies > [My generation is now the door to memory. 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