# What does ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mean?

To “out of sight, out of mind” means to things unseen are easily forgotten. Brewer's records this as an old English proverb, in print by the 13th century.

## What it means

- Brewer's records this as an old English proverb, in print by the 13th century.

## Action steps

1. The pessimistic counterpart to 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'.
2. Example: Once he moved away, we lost touch — out of sight, out of mind.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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