“The past has been a mint Of blood and sorrow. That must not be True of tomorrow.”
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist
Source: The Collected Poems
“The past has been a mint Of blood and sorrow. That must not be True of tomorrow.”
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist
Source: The Collected Poems
Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader
Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
“Sundown yellow moon I replay the past
I know every scene by heart they all went by so fast”
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Blood on the Tracks (1975), If You See Her, Say Hello
Variant: I know every scene by heart they all went by so fast
“He who spends time regretting the past loses the present and risks the future.”
Francisco de Quevedo (1584–1645) Spanish writer
“You could give me the past,“ he said a little sadly. “But Alec is my future.”
Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels
Source: City of Fallen Angels
“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?”
John Steinbeck book The Grapes of Wrath
Source: The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
“Wizard's Seventh Rule
Life is the future, not the past.”
Terry Goodkind book The Pillars of Creation
Source: The Pillars of Creation
“The past doesn't matter. People cling to it because it allows them to ignore the present.”
James Frey book The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
Source: The Final Testament of the Holy Bible
“The past is the father of the present.”
Agatha Christie book Hallowe'en Party
Source: Hallowe'en Party
“Futures not achieved are only branches of the past: dead branches.”
Italo Calvino book Invisible Cities
Source: Invisible Cities
“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
“The Past is the textbook of tyrants; the Future is the Bible of the Free.”
Herman Melville book White-Jacket
Source: White-Jacket
“Regret is useless in life. It's in the past. All we have is now.”
Marlon Brando (1924–2004) American screen and stage actor
“Now think deeply.
What have you done with your life over the past year?
How do you feel inside?”
Sean Covey (1964) author; business executive
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide
Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way
Source: The Artist's Way
Gloria Whelan (1923) British children's writer
Source: Parade of Shadows
“Time goes from present to past.”
Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) Japanese Buddhist missionary
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
“You can’t help being young, but it’s past time that you stopped being stupid.”
Scott Lynch The Lies of Locke Lamora
Interlude “Locke Stays for Dinner” section 1 (p. 121)
Source: The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006)
Jennifer Crusie (1949) American writer
Source: Agnes and the Hitman
“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”
Cormac McCarthy book All the Pretty Horses
Source: All the Pretty Horses
“the greatest Americans
have not been born yet
they are waiting patiently
for the past to die”
Saul Williams (1972) American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor
“The past is the past. You cannot change it, but you can learn from it.”
Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist
“The blade must past threw the fire, else it breaks.”
Margaret Weis book The Soulforge
Source: The Soulforge
“Fear not the future, weep not for the past.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley The Revolt of Islam
Canto XI, st. 18
The Revolt of Islam (1817)
Diana Peterfreund (1979) American writer
Source: Tap & Gown
Terry Tempest Williams (1955) American writer
Source: Pieces of White Shell
Yukio Mishima book The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
Source: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
“They had no past. They had no future. They just were.”
Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman
Source: The Bronze Horseman
“I'd rather be thin than famous
but I'm fat
paste that in your broadway show”
Jack Kerouac book Mexico City Blues
Source: Mexico City Blues
James Salter (1925–2015) American novelist and short-story writer
Source: Burning the Days: Recollection
Jeanette Winterson book Gut Symmetries
Gut Symmetries (1997)
Context: They were letting off fireworks down at the waterfront, the sky exploding in grenades of colour. Whatever it is that pulls the pin, that hurls you past the boundaries of your own life into a brief and total beauty - even for a moment - it is enough.
“I'm very good at the past. It's the present I can't understand.”
Nick Hornby book High Fidelity
Source: High Fidelity
Brennan Manning (1934–2013) writer, American Roman Catholic priest and United States Marine
Source: Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging
“The past is always with us, for it feeds the present.”
Ruskin Bond (1934) British Indian writer
Source: A Town Called Dehra
“I desire no future that will break the ties of the past.”
George Eliot book The Mill on the Floss
Source: The Mill on the Floss
Jonathan Larson (1960–1996) American composer and playwright
Source: Rent: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical
“Strange, what brings these past things so vividly back to us, sometimes!”
Harriet Beecher Stowe book Uncle Tom's Cabin
Source: Uncle Tom's Cabin