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
I don’t ever look back. I look forward.
—Steffi Graf (b.1969) German Tennis Player, Philanthropist
With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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.
Learn about the future by looking at the past.
—Indian Proverb
It is the business of the future to be dangerous…. The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
People who try to predict the future are trying to gain control over their past.
—Indian Proverb
Show me someone content with mediocrity and I’ll show you someone destined for failure.
—Johnnetta B. Cole (b.1936) American Academic, Museum Director
The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less competition there.
—Indira Gandhi (1917–84) Indian Head of State
We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The best of prophets of the future is the past.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Isn’t it amazing the way the future succeeds in creating an appropriate past?
—John Loengard (1934–2020) American Photographer
Never make forecasts, especially about the future.
—Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) Polish-born American Film Producer, Businessperson
Very strange is this quality of our human nature which decrees that unless we feel a future before us we do not live completely in the present.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
When all else is lost, the future still remains.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future by the past.
—Patrick Henry (1736–99) American Patriot, Orator
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Journalist, Author, Editor
I believe the future is only the past again, entered through another gate.
—Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934) English Playwright, Actor
The future is a convenient place for dreams.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
There’s no present. There’s only the immediate future and the recent past.
—George Carlin (1937–2008) American Stand-Up Comedian
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
Work for your future as if you are going to live forever, for your afterlife as if you are going to die tomorrow.
—Arabic Proverb
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
—C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) Irish-British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
The road to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet off the alternatives that destiny offers. Our survival is no more than a question of 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years.
—Jacques Cousteau (1910–97) French Oceanographer, Documentary Director
A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do you know that his future will not be equal to our present?
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
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