“Suspended between fear of the past and fear of the future, I recorded the dream in my journal. Then, without any explanation, as if the connection between the two were obvious, I wrote, I don’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to get a decent education as a child.”

—  Tara Westover , book Educated

Source: Educated (2018), Chapter 18, “Blood and Feathers” (p. 163)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Feb. 20, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Suspended between fear of the past and fear of the future, I recorded the dream in my journal. Then, without any explan…" by Tara Westover?
Tara Westover photo
Tara Westover 17
American historian and author 1986

Related quotes

Omar Abdullah photo
Chulpan Khamatova photo

“I was born in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, during the Soviet-era when there wasn’t any Tatar language…and without any Muslim tradition. I was a Soviet child without my past, without my family roots, because at the time it was forbidden to explain anything.”

Chulpan Khamatova (1975) Russian actress

As quoted in "Russia’s Chulpan Khamatova on Stalinist Backlash Over ‘Zuleikha’ (EXCLUSIVE)" in Variety (10 June 2020) https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/chulpan-khamatova-communist-backlash-zuleikha-1234627594/

Marilyn Manson photo
Mary Elizabeth Winstead photo

“I really didn't have any fear about the humiliation factor. That was something I was excited to get the opportunity to explore. My fears were about pulling it off.”

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (1984) American actress and singer

"Mary Elizabeth Winstead: from scream queen to alcoholic in Smashed" in The Guardian (29 November 2012) https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/29/mary-elizabeth-winstead-scream-queen-alcoholic-smashed

Ayumi Hamasaki photo

“Slowly, I've come to realize
That I cannot heal my past
And that fearing the unavoidable future
Is pointless”

Ayumi Hamasaki (1978) Japanese recording artist, lyricist, model, and actress

No Way To Say
Lyrics, Memorial Address

Omar Khayyám photo

“Ah, my Belov'ed fill the Cup that clears
To-day Past Regrets and Future Fears:
To-morrow! — Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.”

Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer

The Rubaiyat (1120)

Alan Moore photo

“Now, as I understand it, the bards were feared. They were respected, but more than that they were feared.”

Alan Moore (1953) English writer primarily known for his work in comic books

"The Craft" - interview with Daniel Whiston, Engine Comics (January 2005)
Context: Now, as I understand it, the bards were feared. They were respected, but more than that they were feared. If you were just some magician, if you'd pissed off some witch, then what's she gonna do, she's gonna put a curse on you, and what's gonna happen? Your hens are gonna lay funny, your milk's gonna go sour, maybe one of your kids is gonna get a hare-lip or something like that — no big deal. You piss off a bard, and forget about putting a curse on you, he might put a satire on you. And if he was a skilful bard, he puts a satire on you, it destroys you in the eyes of your community, it shows you up as ridiculous, lame, pathetic, worthless, in the eyes of your community, in the eyes of your family, in the eyes of your children, in the eyes of yourself, and if it's a particularly good bard, and he's written a particularly good satire then, three hundred years after you're dead, people are still gonna be laughing at what a twat you were.

Sarah Vaughan photo

“My dream is to do whatever I want without any interference from the record company.”

Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990) American jazz singer

Interview, The Los Angeles Times, 1948

Barack Obama photo

“We respect the past, but we don’t pine for the past. We don’t fear the future; we grab for it.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2015, Bloody Sunday Speech (March 2015)
Context: We respect the past, but we don’t pine for the past. We don’t fear the future; we grab for it. America is not some fragile thing. We are large, in the words of Whitman, containing multitudes. We are boisterous and diverse and full of energy, perpetually young in spirit. That’s why someone like John Lewis at the ripe old age of 25 could lead a mighty march. And that’s what the young people here today and listening all across the country must take away from this day. You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, because you’re ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there’s new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. And it is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.

“What he feared most was the blind spot between us and the future, the space between identities where we could get lost forever.”

Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) English-American novelist and essayist

"George Orwell, Artist" (1972), p. 46
The Good Word & Other Words (1978)

Related topics