St. 18
The Present Crisis (1844)
Context: New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth
Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! we ourselves must Pilgrims be,
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea,
Nor attempt the Future’s portal with the Past’s blood-rusted key.
“Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.”
Vegn vos Firn op fun Yidishkeit, 1911. S. Liptzin. Peretz. Yivo, 1947, p. 372.
Context: They are all so-called Christian nations, but... this superimposed religion... does not penetrate into the core of their souls. It has no relation to their daily experience... It is a key to open a heaven after death and not a key with which to force open the portals of this life.
“There is neither Past nor Future. There is only the Present.”
“Remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present.”
VIII, 36
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII
Context: Remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to hold out against even this.
“Innovation is the key to the future, but basic research is the key to future innovation.”
"Will Innovation Flourish in the Future?," 2002
Source: In Defence Of Politics (Second Edition) – 1981, Chapter 4, A Defence Of Politics Against Nationalism, p. 87.
“For me, art has neither past nor future. All I have ever made was for the present.”
Quote in "Picasso", Hans L. C. Jaffe, Thames and Hudson Ltd
Attributed from posthumous publications
“But the blood always remained, for the key was enchanted.”
Tales of Mother Goose, 1727, "Bluebeard"
