“The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant.”
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Kate Chopin 49
American author 1850–1904Related quotes

Thích Nhất Hạnh here quotes and interprets the "Ten Penetrations" of the Avatamsaka Sutra
The Sun My Heart (1996)
Context: The tenth penetration is, "All times penetrate one time. One time penetrates all times — past, present, and future. In one second, you can find the past, present, and future." In the past, you can see the present and the future. In the present, you can find the past and future. In the future, you can find the past and present. They "inter-contain" each other. Space contains time, time contains space. In the teaching of interpenetration, one determines the other, the other determines this one. When we realize our nature of interbeing, we will stop blaming and killing, because we know that we inter-are.

“We should not be obsessed with the present alone, we must heed the past too.”
Thought at Sunrise (2007)
Context: We should not be obsessed with the present alone, we must heed the past too. Is it fair, for instance, to see only the 25 ft. tall tree and forget the seed that brought it forth? Will the tree accept it if we forget the seed of it all? Is it possible to visualise a future without the seed? We must learn to appraise ourselves of the past if we want a meaningful present. You could call this an act of gratitude or an evaluation of reality.

“He was jealous of her future, and she of his past.”
Source: Delta of Venus
Source: In Defence Of Politics (Second Edition) – 1981, Chapter 4, A Defence Of Politics Against Nationalism, p. 87.

“The seconds marched past, traversing that mysterious boundary which separates future from past.”
Source: Demon Princes (1964-1981), The Face (1979), Chapter 11 (p. 145)
Source: 1940 - 1950, The Plasmic Image 1. 1943-1945, p. 140