Mostly what you lose with time, in memory, is the specificity of things, their exact sequence. It all runs together, becomes a watery soup. Portmanteau days, imploded years. Like a bad actor, memory always goes for effect, abjuring motivation, consistency, good sense.
Interpretation
Memory tends to blend together over time, losing specific details and clarity.
In this quote, James Sallis reflects on the nature of memory and how time affects our recollection of events. He suggests that as time passes, our memories become less distinct and more fused into a vague amalgamation, akin to a 'watery soup'. This blend erases the clarity and sequence of past experiences, illustrating the unreliable nature of memory as it prioritizes emotional impact over factual accuracy.
In practice
In a speech about the effects of aging on cognition.
He existed a step or two to one side of the common world, largely out of sight, a shadow, all but invisible. Whatever he owned, either he could hoist it on his back and lug it along or he could walk away from it. Anonymity was the thing he loved most about the city, being a part of it and apart from it at the same time.
What a different result one gets by changing the metaphor!
If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.
All of the incessant debate about development assistance, and whether the rich are doing enough to help the poor, actually concerns less than 1% of rich world income. The effort required of the rich is indeed so slight that to do less is to announce brazenly to a large part of the world: 'You count for nothing.' We should not be surprised, then, if in later years the rich reap the whirlwind of that heartless response.
Eternity is said not to be an extension of time but an absence of time.
Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.
If we had the power of ten Shakespeares or a dozen Mozarts, we could not produce anything half so marvelous as one ordinary human child.
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