“It's only when you're forbidden to talk about the future that you suddenly realize how much the future normally occupies the present.”

—  Erica Jong, book Fear of Flying

Fear of Flying (1973)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It's only when you're forbidden to talk about the future that you suddenly realize how much the future normally occupie…" by Erica Jong?
Erica Jong photo
Erica Jong95
Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic 1942

Related quotes

Robert Walser photo

“I don't want a future, I want a present. To me this appears of greater value. You have a future only when you have no present, and when you have a present, you forget to even think about the future.”

Robert Walser (1878–1956) Swiss writer

Source: The Tanners

Louis-ferdinand Céline photo

“Anybody who talks about the future is a bastard, it's the present that counts.”

Louis-ferdinand Céline book Journey to the End of the Night

Source: Journey to the End of the Night (1932), Chapter 4

Louis-ferdinand Céline photo

“The one who talks about the future is a rascal. The present is the only thing that matters. To invoke one’s posterity is to make a speech to maggots.”

Louis-ferdinand Céline book Journey to the End of the Night

4
Journey to the End of the Night (1932)

David Levithan photo

“It was one of those moments when you feel the future so much that it humbles the present.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Gouverneur Morris photo

“It is not easy to be wise for all times, not event for the present much less for the future; and those who judge the past must recollect that, when it was the present the present was future”

Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) American politician

Gouverneur Morris to Robert Walsh ( February 5, 1811 http://www.bgdlegal.com/clientuploads/Publications/Publications/John%20Bush%20-%20Gouverneur%20Morris.pdf) <br class="br">1810s

Jerry Spinelli photo

“You occupied my space. But because you were not in my present, when I looked into my future I saw… nothing. Isn't that sad? And stupid?”

Jerry Spinelli book Love, Stargirl

Source: Love, Stargirl

Ramana Maharshi photo

“Why should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.”

Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) Indian religious leader

Abide as the Self

Bhakti Tirtha Swami photo

“Life is full of meaning and opportunities for growth. When we are mindful of the beauty and accomplishments of the past, even when the present or future is not exactly what we would like it to be, we will not be disturbed. We will still be excited about the past and appreciative for the present. In this way, the future will be even more auspicious because we create our futures by how we have dealt with the past and how we are dealing with the present. Being always refl ective, mindful, and grateful allows us to never forget how much the Supreme Lord is sending His love in different ways.”

Bhakti Tirtha Swami (1950–2005) American Hindu writer

Meditation 5 - Die Before Dying
Books, The Beggar, Volume IV: Die Before Dying (Hari-Nama Press, 2005)

John Green photo

“"Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia."
"Huh?" I asked.
"You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present."”

John Green book Looking for Alaska

Alaska Young and Miles "Pudge" Halter, p. 54
Looking for Alaska (2005)

Related topics