There either is or is not, that’s the way things are. The colour of the day. The way it felt to be a child. The saltwater on your sunburnt legs. Sometimes the water is yellow, sometimes it’s red. But what colour it may be in memory, depends on the day. I’m not going to tell you the story the way it happened. I’m going to tell it the way I remember it.
Interpretation
Memory shapes our perception of experiences rather than presenting them as they were.
In this quote, Charles Dickens emphasizes the subjective nature of memory and how our emotions and experiences influence the way we recall events. He suggests that the true essence of a moment is colored by our interpretations and feelings at the time of recollection, rather than being a factual retelling of what occurred. This reflection encourages a deeper understanding of how we perceive and narrate our lives.
In practice
In a discussion about the reliability of personal narratives, one might reference this quote to illustrate how memories can differ from actual events.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
What are the stars but points in the body of God where we insert the healing needles of our terror and longing?
In order to speak about all and to all, one has to speak of what all know and of the reality common to us all. The sea, rains, necessity, desire, the struggle against death... these are things that unite us all.
A man's excellence is like that of water; It benefits all things without striving; It takes to the low places shunned by men. Water is akin to Tao. . . . In all the earth nothing weaker than water, Yet in attacking the hard, nothing superior, Nothing so certain in wearing down strength: There is no way to resist it. Note then: The weak conquer the strong, The yielding outlast the aggressors.
The Buddha is not a person but a (state of) realization to which anyone can attain.
If someone tells you he is going to make a 'realistic decision', you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something bad.
What consoles one nowadays is not repentance but pleasure. Repentance is quite out of date.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.