I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Samuel BeckettRead
Estragon: I'm like that. Either I forget right away or I never forget.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the duality of human memory, emphasizing the extremes of forgetting and remembering.
In this quote from Samuel Beckett's play 'Waiting for Godot', Estragon expresses a profound observation about the nature of memory. It highlights the struggle between swift forgetfulness and the burden of unforgettable memories, suggesting that our experiences shape our identity in complex ways. This duality illustrates the varying capacities of our minds to retain or dismiss memories, which can influence our perspectives and emotional states.
Themes
MemoryForgettingRememberingIdentityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of mental health, one might quote Beckett to illustrate the challenges of memory.
More from Samuel Beckett
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I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
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And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
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I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
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We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
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When every autumn people said it could not last through the winter, and when every spring there was still no end in sight, only the hope that out of it all some good would accrue to mankind kept men and nations fighting. When at last it was over, the war had many diverse results and one dominant one transcending all others: disillusion.
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Human beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past grief becomes a source of present pleasure - such is the strange alchemy of the spirit.
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Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
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