Tomorrow never comes.
—Common Proverb
The child is not to be educated for the present, but for the remote future, and often is opposition to the immediate future.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Fortunately for children, the uncertainties of the present always give way to the enchanted possibilities of the future.
—Gelsey Kirkland (b.1952) American Ballerina
Take therefore no thought of the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Hardly anyone knows how much is gained by ignoring the future.
—Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) French Essayist, Polymath, Philosopher
The future is a world limited by ourselves—in it we discover only what concerns us.
—Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) Belgian Poet, Playwright, Essayist
The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
The future is a great land.
—Unknown
When I look at the future, it’s so bright, it burns my eyes.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
The future is hidden even from those who make it.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.
—George Burns (1896–1996) American Comedian
The trouble with the future is that is usually arrives before we’re ready for it.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Nothing in life is more remarkable than the unnecessary anxiety which we endure, and generally create ourselves.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Power is not a means; it is an end….
Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself….
The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy – everything…. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends….
We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science…. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always – do not forget this, Winston – always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless….
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
The young sailor at sea was ordered to climb a mast to adjust a sail during a violent storm. He got halfway up, looked down, got dizzy and sick. An old sailor on deck shouted up to him Look up, son, look up. Young sailor looked up, regained his composure, and completed his mission. Moral: Look ahead, not back.
—Indian Proverb
If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one.
—John Galsworthy (1867–1933) English Novelist, Playwright
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
He who lives in the future lives in a featureless blank; he lives in impersonality; he lives in Nirvana. The past is democratic, because it is a people. The future is despotic, because it is a caprice. Every man is alone in his prediction, just as each man is alone in a dream.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
When all else is lost, the future still remains.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
I believe the future is only the past again, entered through another gate.
—Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934) English Playwright, Actor
The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show.
—Unknown
The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots. True enough, robots do not rebel. But given man’s nature, robots cannot live and remain sane, they become Golems,” they will destroy their world and themselves because they cannot stand any longer the boredom of a meaningless life.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Tomorrow is the mysterious, unknown guest.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
I have been nothing … but there is tomorrow.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
How happy the station which every moment furnishes opportunities of doing good to thousands!—How dangerous that which every moment exposes to the injuring of millions.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again… the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul.
—J. G. Ballard (1930–2009) English Novelist, Short Story Writer
The future is the most expensive luxury in the world.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
He that fears not the future may enjoy the present.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
Imagine a baseball thrown thru the air. A high speed camera takes pictures of it showing very great detail—names, laces, etc. Someone shows you a picture—can you tell what direction it is travelling? or even if it is moving? NO. You would have to know where it was thrown FROM to know what direction it is going. In times of high change, it’s good to know a little bit about the PAST to understand the present freeze frame of the NOW and project to some degree of accuracy where we are GOING (The Future).
—Unknown
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Editor, Politician, Author
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
You can never plan the future by the past.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
If a man carefully examine his thoughts he will be surprised to find how much he lives in the future. His well-being is always ahead. Such a creature is probably immortal.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The future is the past returning through another gate.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
The good days weren’t really so good, and tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems.
—Billy Joel (b.1949) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician
A fixed image of the future is in the worst sense a historical.
—Juliet Mitchell (b.1934) British Writer, Psychoanalyst , Feminist
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
That man is prudent who neither hopes nor fears anything from the uncertain events of the future.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
We already have the statistics for the future: the growth percentages of pollution, overpopulation, desertification. The future is already in place.
—Gunter Grass (1927–2015) German Novelist, Poet
The cradle of the future is the grave of the past.
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) Austrian Dramatist, Playwright
Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
The future comes slowly, the present flies and the past stands still forever.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
All futurity seems teeming with endless destruction never to be repelled; Desperate remorse swallows the present in a quenchless rage.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
Our present addiction to pollsters and forecasters is a symptom of our chronic uncertainty about the future… We watch our experts read the entrails of statistical tables and graphs the way the ancients watched their soothsayers read the entrails of a chicken.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author