"Writing is a futile attempt to preserve what disappears moment by moment. All that remains of my mother is what I remember and what I have written for and about her. Eventually that is all that will remain of [my husband] and me. Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as people read, those we love survive however evanescently. As do we writers, saying with our life's work, Remember. Remember us. Remember me"
About this Quote
The intimacy is doing quiet cultural work. She doesn’t talk about “legacy” in the abstract; she names a mother, a husband, and then the self, narrowing the lens to the household scale where grief actually lives. In that move, Piercy reframes authorship as kinship labor: the page is a domestic archive, a place where love is made retrievable. “All that remains” lands with the bluntness of estate inventory, but the inventory is emotional, not material.
Her subtext is also a defense against the charge of frivolity. By admitting writing can feel “frivolous,” she anticipates the utilitarian critique (art doesn’t feed anyone, art doesn’t cure anything). Then she flips it: the “sacred” isn’t divine sanction, it’s the sacredness of attention. Memory as “muse” is pointedly feminized, an almost mythic figure she “serves,” suggesting devotion, discipline, and obligation rather than inspiration-as-whim.
The ending turns literature into a relay, not a monument. Survival is “evanescent,” contingent on readers renewing the spell. “Remember” repeats like a chant, but also like a plea you’d leave on a voicemail. Piercy isn’t promising immortality; she’s asking for custody of a life, held briefly, passed hand to hand.
Quote Details
| Topic | Legacy & Remembrance |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Piercy, Marge. (2026, January 11). Writing is a futile attempt to preserve what disappears moment by moment. All that remains of my mother is what I remember and what I have written for and about her. Eventually that is all that will remain of [my husband] and me. Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as people read, those we love survive however evanescently. As do we writers, saying with our life's work, Remember. Remember us. Remember me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/writing-is-a-futile-attempt-to-preserve-what-173659/
Chicago Style
Piercy, Marge. "Writing is a futile attempt to preserve what disappears moment by moment. All that remains of my mother is what I remember and what I have written for and about her. Eventually that is all that will remain of [my husband] and me. Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as people read, those we love survive however evanescently. As do we writers, saying with our life's work, Remember. Remember us. Remember me." FixQuotes. January 11, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/writing-is-a-futile-attempt-to-preserve-what-173659/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Writing is a futile attempt to preserve what disappears moment by moment. All that remains of my mother is what I remember and what I have written for and about her. Eventually that is all that will remain of [my husband] and me. Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as people read, those we love survive however evanescently. As do we writers, saying with our life's work, Remember. Remember us. Remember me." FixQuotes, 11 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/writing-is-a-futile-attempt-to-preserve-what-173659/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
