We think very little of time present; we anticipate the future, as being too slow, and with a view to hasten it onward, we recall the past to stay it as too swiftly gone. We are so thoughtless, that we thus wander through the hours which are not here, regardless only of the moment that is actually our own.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Right now a moment is fleeting by! Capture its reality in paint! To do that we must put all else out of our minds. We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate. Give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time.
—Paul Cezanne (1839–1906) French Painter
Try to be happy in this very present moment; and put not off being so to a time to come; as though that time should be of another make from this, which is already come, and is ours.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Men spend their lives in anticipations, in determining to be vastly happy at some period when they have time. But the present time has one advantage over every other—it is our own. Past opportunities are gone, future are not come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine; but if we defer the tasting of them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
If its colors were but fast colors, self-conceit would be a most comfortable quality.—But life is so humbling, mortifying, disappointing to vanity, that a great man’s idea of himself gets washed out of him by the time he is forty.
—Charles Buxton (1823–71) British Politician, Writer
Use your precious moments to live life fully every single second of every single day.
—Marcia Wieder
Confine yourself to the present.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings.
—Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) American Christian Leader, Humanitarian, Writer
We were wise indeed, could we discern truly the signs of our own time; and by knowledge of its wants and advantages, wisely adjust our own position in it. Let us, instead of gazing idly into the obscure distance, look calmly around us, for a little, on the perplexed scene where we stand. Perhaps, on a more serious inspection, something of its perplexity will disappear, some of its distinctive characters and deeper tendencies more clearly reveal themselves; whereby our own relations to it, our own true aims and endeavors in it, may also become clearer.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Each present joy or sorrow seems the chief.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.
—Alexander Woollcott (1887–1943) American Author, Critic, Actor
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
Look upon every day as the whole of life, not merely as a section; and enjoy and improve the present without wishing, through haste, to rush on to another.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Philosopher
Where were you… when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons (and daughters) of God shouted for joy?
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
He to whom the present is the only thing that is present, knows nothing of the age in which he lives.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Busy not yourself in looking forward to the events of tomorrow, but those of the days which Providence may assign you neglect not to turn to advantage.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
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
One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrows; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Today must not borrow from tomorrow.
—German Proverb
In the midst of hopes and cares, of apprehensions and of disquietude, regard every day that dawns upon you as if it was to be your last; then super-added hours, to the enjoyment of which you had not looked forward, will prove an acceptable boon.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Abridge your hopes in proportion to the shortness of the span of human life; for while we converse, the hours, as if envious of our pleasure, fly away; enjoy therefore the present time, and trust not too much to what tomorrow may produce.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
I am in the present. I cannot know what tomorrow will bring forth. I can know only what the truth is for me today. That is what I am called upon to serve, and I serve it in all lucidity.
—Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Russian-born American Composer, Musician
When we come into the present, we begin to feel the life around us again, but we also encounter whatever we have been avoiding. We must have the courage to face whatever is present—our pain, our desires, our grief, our loss, our secret hopes our love—everything that moves us most deeply.
—Jack Kornfield (b.1945) American Buddhist Teacher
In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
—Abbie Hoffman (1936–89) American Political Activist, Anarchist
The pleasure we derive from the representation of the present is due, not only to the beauty it can be clothed in, but also to its essential quality of being the present.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
Each day is a special gift from God, and while life may not always be fair, you must never allow the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future. You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity, and the sour sound of whining will certainly frighten away any opportunity for success. Never again. There is a better way.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
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