Old paint on a canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman's dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter 'repented,' changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again. That is all I mean about the people in this book. The paint has aged and I wanted to see what was there for me once, what is there for me now.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker uses the concept of pentimento in painting to describe how revisiting the past reveals new meanings and old choices.
- In plain terms
- Like old paint, our past changes how we see it now.
- What can you take from it?
- Looking back can show you what was there and what is there now.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How has your view of the past changed?
- What did you repented?
Another view
Not everyone finds new meaning in revisiting the past; some may only see regret.
More from Lillian Hellman
I do not believe in recovery. The past with its pleasures, its rewards, its foolishness, its punishments, is there for each of us forever, and it should be.
Permalink to quote #10 Belief is a moral act for which the believer is to be held responsible.
Permalink to quote #12 Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did.
Permalink to quote #9
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The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.
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William Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen Bryant quote #14