Reinterpretation Quotes

“The process of 'reinterpreting and adjusting' our understanding of truth reflects the ongoing, dynamic nature of , phenomenological inquiry, where truth is never fully grasped but always approached through lived experience. .("Behind the frosted glass”)”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Your life is written in indelible ink. There's no going back to erase the past, tweak your mistakes, or fill in missed opportunities. When the moment's over, your fate is sealed.

But if look closer, you notice the ink never really dries on any our experiences. They can change their meaning the longer you look at them.

Klexos.

There are ways of thinking about the past that aren't just nostalgia or regret. A kind of questioning that enriches an experience after the fact. To dwell on the past is to allow fresh context to trickle in over the years, and fill out the picture; to keep the memory alive, and not just as a caricature of itself. So you can look fairly at a painful experience, and call it by its name.

Time is the most powerful force in the universe. It can turn a giant into someone utterly human, just trying to make their way through. Or tell you how you really felt about someone, even if you couldn't at the time. It can put your childhood dreams in context with adult burdens or turn a universal consensus into an embarrassing fad. It can expose cracks in a relationship that once seemed perfect. Or keep a friendship going by thoughts alone, even if you'll never see them again. It can flip your greatest shame into the source of your greatest power, or turn a jolt of pride into something petty, done for the wrong reasons, or make what felt like the end of the world look like a natural part of life.

The past is still mostly a blank page, so we may be doomed to repeat it. But it's still worth looking into if it brings you closer to the truth.

Maybe it's not so bad to dwell in the past, and muddle in the memories, to stem the simplification of time, and put some craft back into it. Maybe we should think of memory itself as an art form, in which the real work begins as soon as the paint hits the canvas. And remember that a work of art is never finished, only abandoned.”
― John Koenig

“I am always a different man; a reinterpretation of the man I was yesterday, and the day before, and all the days I have lived. The past is gone, was always gone; it does not exist, except in memory, and what is memory but thought, a copy of perception, no less but no more replete with truth than any passing whim, fancy, or other agitation of the mind. And if it is actions, words, thoughts that define an individual, those definitions alter like the weather - if continuity and pattern are often discernible, so are chaos and sudden change.”
― K.J. Bishop, The Etched City

“When I was a kid, I heard a story about half of all marriages end in divorce. At that time, it was a story about my parents. Twenty years later, I heard the same story — that half of all marriages end in divorce. Then, it was a story about my wife and I. Today, I heard the same story again — that half of all marriages end in divorce. Now, it’s a story about my kids. I heard that same exact story three times — the same exact words — but each time I heard it, it was a completely different story. It changed because I changed.”
― Sean Norris, Heaven and Hurricanes

“Significant events of the past are subject to reinterpretation every few generations.”
― Bonta

“These examples of [adjusting] physical activities are relatively straightforward. Bodies age and we have to change how we think about success or we'll always be failing. I think these examples are worth discussing, though, because they make an important point: we don't always see these necessary changes as changes; instead, we think of them as quitting or capitulating. Why? We don't have to see changes as capitulations, and it is often better not to. ... In other words, I'll be better off thinking, "I value my health and I'm finding new ways to maintain my flexibility as I age" than "I used to love yoga, but I've given up.”
― Valerie Tiberius, What Do You Want Out of Life?: A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters