A genius is one who shoots at something no one else can see—and hits it.
—Unknown
We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.
—Dan Quayle (b.1947) American Head of State, Politician, Elected Rep
The most reliable way to anticipate the future is by understanding the present.
—John Naisbitt American Trend Analyst
When we can’t dream any longer, we die.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been
The foresight to know where you are going
And the insight to know when you have gone too far.
—Irish Blessing
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
—Ralph Vaull Starr
Be a little careful about your library. Do you foresee what you will do with it? Very little to be sure. But the real question is, what it will do with you? You will come here and get books that will open your eyes, and your ears, and your curiosity, and turn you inside out or outside in.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight… It should be the growing nation with a future which takes the long look ahead.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
There is nothing certain except the unforeseen.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
He who could foresee affairs three days in advance would be rich for thousands of years.
—Chinese Proverb
It is better to meet danger than to wait for it. He that is on a lee shore, and foresees a hurricane, stands out to sea and encounters a storm to avoid a shipwreck.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
Pain and fear and hunger are effects of causes which can be foreseen and known: but sorrow is a debt which someone else makes for us.
—Freya Stark (1893–1993) British Explorer, Writer
The artist doesn’t see things as they are, but as he is.
—Unknown
As we become purer channels for God’s light, we develop an appetite for the sweetness that is possible in this world. A miracle worker is not geared toward fighting the world that is, but toward creating the world that could be.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
In a world that is constantly changing, there is no one subject or set of subjects that will serve you for the foreseeable future, let alone for the rest of your life. The most important skill to acquire now is learning how to learn.
—John Naisbitt American Trend Analyst
In conditions of great uncertainty people tend to predict the events that they want to happen actually will happen.
—Roberta Wohlstetter (1912–2007) American Military Policy Analyst
He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.
—Chinese Proverb
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.
—Marian Wright Edelman (b.1939) American Civil Regrets Advocate, Humanitarian, Lawyer
He, who foresees calamities, suffers them twice over.
—Beilby Porteus (1731–1809) Anglican Bishop of London
The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
You politicians have got to look further ahead; you always got a Putter in your hands, when you ought to have a Driver.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
You can only predict things after they’ve happened.
—Eugene Ionesco (1909–94) Romanian-born French Dramatist
We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.
—Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) German Statesman
When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.
—John M. Richardson, Jr.
Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002) American Journalist, Essayist, Memoirist, Travel Writer
Where did you go to, if I may ask? said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along. “To look ahead,” said he. “And what brought you back in the nick of time?” “Looking behind,” said he.
—J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) British Scholar, Author
In life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddied? You are the one who must grow up.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat