A man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of memories as a person's true wealth.
The quote by Alexander Smith suggests that a person's memories and experiences are what define their richness in life. Unlike material possessions, which can be lost or taken away, the memories we hold remain with us, shaping our identity and perspective. Thus, true wealth lies in the richness of our experiences and the memories we cherish.
In practice
Use this quote in a graduation speech to emphasize the value of memories over material possessions.
Looking forward into an empty year strikes one with a certain awe, because one finds therein no recognition. The years behind have a friendly aspect, and they are warmed by the fires we have kindled, and all their echoes are the echoes of our own voices.
My garden, with its silence and pulses of fragrance that come and go on the airy undulations, affects me like sweet music. Care stops at the gates, and gazes at me wistfully through the bars.
Fame is but an inscription on a grave, and glory the melancholy blazon on a coffin lid.
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
The world is not so much in need of new thoughts as that when thought grows old and worn with usage it should, like current coin, be called in, and, from the mint of genius, reissued fresh and new.
Books are a finer world within the world. (1863)
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.
I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.
When lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday, cash me out.
Every individual acts and suffers in accordance with his peculiar teleology, which has all the inevitability of fate, so long as he does not understand it.
If life was a dream, then dying must be the moment when you woke up. It was so simple it must be true. You died, the dream was over, you woke up. That's what people meant when they talked about going to heaven. It was like waking up.
The World War I, I'm a child of World War I. And I really know about the children of war. Because both my parents were both badly damaged by the war. My father, physically, and both mentally and emotionally. So, I know exactly what it's like to be brought up in an atmosphere of a continual harping on the war.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.