---
title: "I, too, often shrivel the grey shreds, Sniff them and think and sniff… — Edward Thomas Quote #6 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "I, too, often shrivel the grey shreds, Sniff them and think and sniff again and try Once more to think what it is I am remembering, Always in vain. I… — a quote by Edward Thomas."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # I, too, often shrivel the grey shreds, Sniff them and think and sniff again and try Once more to think what it is I am remembering, Always in vain. I cannot like the scent, Yet I would rather give up others more sweet, With no meaning, than this bitter one.

[Edward Thomas](https://quotesby.net/Edward-Thomas)\#6

[Memory](https://quotesby.net/Edward-Thomas/memory/)[Meaning](https://quotesby.net/topics/meaning/)[Past](https://quotesby.net/topics/past/)[Sadness](https://quotesby.net/topics/sadness/)[Suffering](https://quotesby.net/topics/suffering/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?The speaker smells old grey shreds and tries to remember what they mean but fails, preferring this bitter scent to sweet empty ones.In plain termsHe smells something old and tries to remember its meaning but fails, yet prefers it to meaningless sweet scents.What can you take from it?Even painful memories are valued over meaningless pleasant ones.

### Where it applies

- remembering the past
- smelling old objects
- missing someone

### Putting it to work

- writing about memory
- sensory description
- grief processing

### Questions to consider

- What scent reminds you of a lost time?
- Why do you hold onto painful memories?

### Another view

It romanticizes suffering by suggesting bitter memories are inherently more valuable.

## More from Edward Thomas

1. > If I should ever by chance grow rich I'll buy Codham, Cockridden, and Childerditch, Roses, Pyrgo, and Lapwater, And let them all to my eldest daughter.

[Permalink to quote \#5](https://quotesby.net/Edward-Thomas/5/ "Permalink to quote 5")
2. > I like to think how easily Nature will absorb London as she absorbed the mastodon, setting her spiders to spin the winding-sheet and her worms to fill in the g…

[Permalink to quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/Edward-Thomas/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")
3. > I built myself a house of glass: It took me years to make it: And I was proud. But now, alas! Would God someone would break it.

[Permalink to quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/Edward-Thomas/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")

## Related quotes

1. > Don't say nothing bout the old house. Cos I burned it to the ground. And when the darkness comes, I lie awake. Playing lost and found ~ 'All At Once'

[Pete Yorn](https://quotesby.net/Pete-Yorn)[Pete Yorn quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/Pete-Yorn/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")
2. > I have had worse partings, but none that so Gnaws at my mind still.

[Cecil Day Lewis](https://quotesby.net/Cecil-Day-Lewis)[Cecil Day Lewis quote \#7](https://quotesby.net/Cecil-Day-Lewis/7/ "Permalink to quote 7")
3. > Memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears.

[Rollo May](https://quotesby.net/Rollo-May)[Rollo May quote \#12](https://quotesby.net/Rollo-May/12/ "Permalink to quote 12")

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