I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining. We do not remember. We rewrite memory much as history is rewritten. How can one remember thirst?
Interpretation
Memory is not simply a recollection of facts but a reconstruction shaped by our experiences and perceptions.
Chris Marker's quote explores the complex nature of memory and forgetting. It suggests that our memories are not static recordings, but rather fluid narratives that we reconstruct based on our current understanding and emotions. This idea emphasizes that remembering is intertwined with forgetting, as they both play a vital role in shaping our perception of the past. In essence, our memories are more like a rewritten history than a direct reflection of what has occurred.
In practice
In a discussion about how people's perceptions of the same event can differ, this quote highlights the subjective nature of memory.
Who said that time heals all wounds? It would be better to say that time heals everything - except wounds. With time, the hurt of separation loses its real limits. With time, the desired body will soon disappear, and if the desiring body has already ceased to exist for the other, then what remains is a wound, disembodied.
Nothing sorts out memories from ordinary moments. It is only later that they claim remembrance, when they show their scars.
The idol is the expression of religion.
The law of the Creator, which invests every human being with an inalienable title to freedom, cannot be repealed by any interior law which asserts that man is property.
And I will die, and you will die, and we all will die, and even the stars will fade out one after another in time.
Real history is far more complex and interesting than the simplistic summaries presented in Wikipedia articles. Knowing this allows you to question received wisdom, to challenge 'facts' 'everybody' knows to be true, and to imagine worlds and characters worthy of our rich historical heritage and our complex selves.
...The God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I've got a log in my own.
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
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