Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes. If you don’t wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes.
—African Proverb
Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.
—Thomas L. Holdcroft
No man is rich enough to buy back his past.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.
—Anonymous
Forever is composed of nows.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today.
—Unknown
It’s not what if, it’s what now.
—Unknown
The future is always beginning now.
—Mark Strand (1934–2014) American Poet, Essayist, Translator
The past is a bucket of ashes, so live not in your yesterdays, nor just for tomorrow, but in the here and now. Keep moving and forget the post-mortems. And remember, no one can get the jump on the future.
—Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American Biographer, Novelist, Socialist
I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
Bring the past only if you are going to build from it.
—Domenico Cieri (b.1954) Mexican Author, Aphorist
The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis.
—Margaret Wander Bonanno American Writer, Publisher
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
The living moment is everything.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
The one charm of the past is that it is the past.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
The past is a good place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
—Anonymous
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
—L. P. Hartley (1895–1972) British Writer, Critic
We need not destroy the past. It is gone.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer
In today already walks tomorrow.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
I have realized that the past and the future are real illusions, that they exist only in the present, which is what there is and all that there is.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Never let yesterday use up too much of today.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
We steal if we touch tomorrow. It is God’s.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Seize from every moment its unique novelty, and do not prepare your joys.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
Often do the spirits of great events stride on before the events, and in today already walks tomorrow.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher