The time is always right to do what’s right.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
So often we rob tomorrow’s memories by today’s economies.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Author, Drama Critic
True happiness is to understand our duties toward God and man; to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence on the future; not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is abundantly sufficient.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We usually lose today, because there has been a yesterday, and tomorrow is coming.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The present offers itself to our touch for only an instant of time and then eludes the senses.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
—Abbie Hoffman (1936–89) American Political Activist, Anarchist
This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Editor, Politician, Author
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
Love yourself and watch –
Today, tomorrow, always.
To straighten the crooked
You must first do a harder thing –
Straighten yourself.
—Buddhist Teaching
The only use of a knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present. The present contains all that there is. It is holy ground; for it is the past, and it is the future.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present.
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Self-Help Author
Our latest moment is always our supreme moment. Five minutes delay in dinner now is more important than a great sorrow ten years gone.
—Samuel Butler
There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over again, now.
—Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) American Playwright
Half of today is better than all of tomorrow.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning I say: “What is my exciting thing for today?” Then, I do the day. Don’t ask me about tomorrow.
—Barbara Jordan (1936–96) American Lawyer, Educator, Politician
Give me insight into today and you may have the antique and future worlds.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Today, well lived, will prepare me for both the pleasure and the pain of tomorrow.
—Unknown
Are not my days few? Cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little before I go whence I shall not return.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
When shall we live if not now?
—M. F. K. Fisher (1908–92) American Writer, Publisher
We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Through loyalty to the past, our mind refuses to realize that tomorrow’s joy is possible only if today’s makes way for it; that each wave owes the beauty of its line only to the withdrawal of the preceding one.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Do today’s duty, fight today’s temptation; do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
It is not the weight of the future or the past that is pressing upon you, but ever that of the present alone. Even this burden, too, can be lessened if you confine it strictly to its own limits.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
The future belongs to those who live intensely in the present.
—Unknown
Those who live to the future must always appear selfish to those who live to the present.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
And if not now, when?
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Few of us ever live in the present, we are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
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
If it weren’t for the last minute, a lot of things wouldn’t get done.
—Anonymous
Seize from every moment its unique novelty, and do not prepare your joys.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own;
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The second half of the twentieth century is a complete flop.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–91) Polish-born American Children’s Books Writer, Novelist, Short Story Writer
Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
The present is all the ready money Fate can give.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
This—the immediate, everyday, and present experience—is it, the entire and ultimate point for the existence of a universe.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
The prospect of being pleased tomorrow will never console me for the boredom of today.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
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 Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Tomorrow’s life is too late. Live today.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
We convince by our presence.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
It is a mark of soulfulness to be present in the here and now. When we are present, we are not fabricating inner movies. We are seeing what is before us.
—John Bradshaw (1933–2016) American Motivational Speaker
Today is yesterday’s pupil.
—Common Proverb
Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
The flesh endures the storms of the present alone, the mind those of the past and future as well.
—Epicurus (c.341–270 BCE) Greek Philosopher
The span of life is waning fast; Beware, unthinking youth, beware! Thy soul’s eternity depends Upon the record moments bear.
—Eliza Cook (1818–89) English Author, Poet, Writer
There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.
—Alexander Woollcott (1887–1943) American Author, Critic, Actor
The present, like a note in music, is nothing but as it appertains to what is past and what is to come.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.
—Emmet Fox (1886–1951) Irish-American New Thought Leader
In order to be utterly happy, the only thing necessary is to refrain from comparing this moment with other moments in the past, which I often did not fully enjoy because I was comparing them with other moments of the future.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist