QuoteProject
Time and memory are true artists; they remould reality nearer to the heart's desire.
John Dewey
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Time and memory shape our perceptions of reality and allow us to adjust them to align with our desires.

This quote by John Dewey suggests that our understanding of reality is not fixed; rather, it is continuously influenced by the passage of time and the memories we hold. As we reflect on our experiences, memories can reshape our perceptions to better align with our innermost wishes and sentiments, highlighting the subjective nature of our reality and the power of our emotions in interpreting our lives.

Themes

TimeMemoryRealityDesireEmotion

In practice

Example use cases

During a graduation speech, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of memories in shaping future aspirations.

More from John Dewey

Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth. In this way, the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer-in of the true Kingdom of God.
John DeweyRead
Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.
John DeweyRead
It science involves an intelligent and persistent endeavor to revise current beliefs so as to weed out what is erroneous, to add to their accuracy, and, above all, to give them such shape that the dependencies of the various facts upon one another may be as obvious as possible.
John DeweyRead
For in spite of itself any movement that thinks and acts in terms of an β€˜ism becomes so involved in reaction against other β€˜isms that it is unwittingly controlled by them. For it then forms its principles by reaction against them instead of by a comprehensive, constructive survey of actual needs, problems, and possibilities.
John DeweyRead
Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone's knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier.
John DeweyRead
The reactionaries are in possession of force, in not only the army and police, but in the press and the schools
John DeweyRead

Similar quotes

Much like a subtle spider which doth sit_x000D_ _x000D_ In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide;_x000D_ _x000D_ If aught do touch the utmost thread of it,_x000D_ _x000D_ She feels it instantly on every side.
Sir John DaviesRead
The Bat that flits at close of Eve_x000D_ _x000D_ Has left the Brain that won't believe._x000D_ _x000D_ The Owl that calls upon the Night_x000D_ _x000D_ Speaks the Unbeliever's fright.
William BlakeRead
If we compare a severely defective human infant with a nonhuman animal, a dog or a pig, for example, we will often find the nonhuman to have superior capacities, both actual and potential, for rationality, self-consciousness, communication and anything else that can plausibly be considered morally significant.
Peter SingerRead
Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.
Cornel WestRead
True conversion means turning not only from sin but also from depending on self-made righteousness.
George WhitefieldRead
Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother's keeper.
George McgovernRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.