Fifteen quotes on how memories keep loved ones alive 

Since the time of Euripides — and no doubt before — people have had the sense that the dead are not truly gone, as long as they live on in our memories and dreams. In this collection of quotes, that Greek tragedian is joined by thinkers, writers and everyday philosophers who in the years since have contemplated the beauty of that idea.

1. “Trying to remember you is like carrying water in my hands a long distance across sand.”

– Stephen Dobyns

 

2. “One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.”

– Antonio Porchia

 

3. “Sometimes memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks.”

– Unknown

 

4. “It’s okay to look at the past and the future. Just don’t stare.”

-Lisa Lieberman-Wang

 

5. “Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”

– Terry Pratchett

6. “There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ’em, but all that’s gonna matter is that little dash between ’em.”

– Kevin Welch

 

7. “Come back. Even as a shadow, even as a dream.”

– Euripides

8. “How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?”

– Carson McCullers

 

9. “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”

– Marcus Tullius Cicero

 

10. “Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”

-George Eliot


11.
“The dead are celebrated. The dead are loved. They give something to the living. Once you put something into the ground, Doctor, you always know where to find it.”

– Téa Obreht

 

12. “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.”

― Shannon Alder

 

13. “In America, they really do mythologize people when they die.”

– Robin Williams

14. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”

-Thomas Campbell

 

15. “Memories are simply moments that refuse to be ordinary.”

-Diane Keaton