Teju Cole Quotes

Forget that I remember And dream that I forget.

We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.

My own memories are packed tightly away. I very rarely bring them out for viewing.

I feel like I've had a lot of painful situations that I intentionally delete from my memory.

For someone who can’t remember very much, there seems to be a lot I can’t forget.

Every time someone forgets, someone else disappears,' my brother wrote.

Forgetting’s not something you do, it happens to you. Only it didn’t happen to me.

Why do people have memories? It would be easier to die - anything to stop remembering.

Forgetting the extermination is part of the extermination itself.

Remembering is the most overrated thing. Forgetting is far superior.

If I have something I like to forget, then I forget it.

What you try to bury just ends up burying you.

There are some things, I think, you're btter off not remembering.

One can forgive but one should never forget.

The past was so past it hurt.

Few have wished for memory so much as they have longed for forgetfulness.

The world is wrong. You can't put the past behind you. It's buried in you; it's turned your flesh into its own cupboard. Not everything remembered is useful but it all comes from the world to be stored in you. Who did what to whom on which day? Who said that? She said what? What did he just do? Did she really say that? He said what? What did she do? Did I hear what I think I heard? Did that just come out of my mouth, his mouth, your mouth? Do you remember when you sighed?

He who forgets will be destined to remember.

Memories are killing. So you must not think of certain things, of those that are dear to you, or rather you must think of them, for if you don’t there is the danger of finding them, in your mind, little by little.

My whole life is about forgetting. It's my most valuable job skill.

Memory is so corrupt that you remember only what you want to; if you want to forget about something, slowly but surely you do.

The very effort to forget teaches us to remember.

No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.

What you don't deal with rules your life.

Closing your eyes isn't going to change anything. Nothing's going to disappear just because you can't see what's going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That's the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won't make time stand still.