Having spent the better part of my life trying either to relive the past or experience the future before it arrives, I have come to believe that in between these two extremes is peace.
—Unknown
The living moment is everything.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Critic
Eternity is not something that begins after you’re dead. It is going on all the time. We are in it now.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) American Feminist, Writer
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
Seize from every moment its unique novelty, and do not prepare your joys.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you’re going to be cockeyed today.
—Unknown
Opportunities fly by while we sit regretting the chances we have lost, and the happiness that comes to us we heed not, because of the happiness that is gone.
—Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) English Humorous Writer, Novelist, Playwright
No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
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
We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don’t think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you’re hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.
—Art Buchwald (1925–2007) American Humorist, Satirist, Columnist
It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis.
—Margaret Wander Bonanno American Writer, Publisher
No man is rich enough to buy back his past.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road.
—Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) (1885–1962) Danish Novelist, Short-story Writer
We can easily manage, if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed for it.—But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow to the weight before we are required to bear it.
—John Newton (1725–1807) English Clergyman, Writer
The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.
—Alice Morse Earle (1851–1911) American Historian, Antiquarian
Old times never come back and I suppose it’s just as well. What comes back is a new morning every day in the year, and that’s better.
—George Edward Woodberry (1855–1930) American Literary Critic, Poet
We steal if we touch tomorrow. It is God’s.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The past is a good place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
—Anonymous
Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present—which seldom happens to us.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
We are always getting ready to live, but never living.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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 the textbook of tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot’s wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet
Nothing ever gets anywhere. The earth keeps turning round and gets nowhere. The moment is the only thing that counts.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
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