The past

Explore 45 quotes about The past

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

The Life of Reason

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past History The past

Author

George Santayana

Source

The Life of Reason

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1905 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Santayana, George. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck and Martin A. Coleman. Vol. 7, The MIT Press, 2011, bk. 1, ch. 12. Originally published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905

For the one thing even God cannot do is change the past.

Agathon

Quoted in The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle

Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon
Read the Nicomachean Ethics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

God's power God Changing the past The past

Speaker

Agathon

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics], written by Aristotle. c. 350 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Nicomachean Ethics, written by Aristotle, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing Company, 2019, bk. 6, ch. 2.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

Buy The Great Gatsby at Amazon Buy The Great Gatsby at Amazon
Read The Great Gatsby at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past The past The human condition

Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source

The Great Gatsby

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Closing lines Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925, ch. 9.

This only is denied even to God,
The power to make what has been done undone.

Agathon

Quoted in The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle

Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon Buy the Nicomachean Ethics at Amazon
Read the Nicomachean Ethics at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

God's power God Changing the past The past

Speaker

Agathon

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics], written by Aristotle. c. 350 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Agathon. Quoted in Nicomachean Ethics, written by Aristotle, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing Company, 2019, bk. 7, ch. 2.

The past is never dead. It's not even past.

William Faulkner

Requiem for a Nun

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past Past and present The past

Speaker

Stevens

Author

William Faulkner

Source

Requiem for a Nun

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Faulkner, William. Requiem for a Nun. Random House, 1951.

Current Citation

Faulkner, William. Requiem for a Nun. Vintage, 2012.

Ancient times were the youth of the world.

Francis Bacon

More information about this quote

Topic

The ancient world Youth The past

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

The Advancement of Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

1605 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. London: Oxford: Rob Youn and Ed Forrest, 1605, bk. 1, pt. 5, no. 1.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "The Advancement of Learning." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 1, pt. 5, no. 1.

My mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.

Forrest Gump

Watch Forrest Gump at Amazon Watch Forrest Gump at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Moving forward The past

Speaker

Forrest Gump

Actor

Tom Hanks

Source

Forrest Gump

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Forrest Gump. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, The Tisch Company, 1994.

We cannot reform our forefathers.

George Eliot

Adam Bede

Buy Adam Bede at Amazon Buy Adam Bede at Amazon
Read Adam Bede at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Morality of the past The past Progress

Author

George Eliot

Source

Adam Bede

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Edinburgh/London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1859, ch. 53.

Current Citation

Eliot, George. Adam Bede, edited by Carol A. Martin. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 53.

When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Buy The Handmaid's Tale at Amazon Buy The Handmaid's Tale at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Rose-colored glasses The past

Author

Margaret Atwood

Source

The Handmaid's Tale

Medium

Novel

Genre

Dystopian fiction

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. McClelland and Stewart/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1985, ch. 6.

Maybe the past is like an anchor holding us back. Maybe, you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be.

Carrie

Sex and the City

Watch Season 5 of Sex and the City at Amazon Watch Season 5 of Sex and the City at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Letting go of the past The past

Speaker

Carrie

Actor

Sarah Jessica Parker

Source

Sex and the City

Medium

TV program

Genre

Romantic comedy (TV) Comedy (TV) Romantic comedy Comedy

Language

English

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Anchors Away." Sex and the City, written by Darren Star and Michael Patrick King and Candace Bushnell, directed by Charles McDougall, season 5, episode 1, Darren Star Productions, 2002.

At every step the natural light which illuminates their path grows dimmer and less secure; and that, in spite of all their efforts, they have as yet only discovered a small number of conflicting notions, on which the mind of man has been tossed about for thousands of years, without either laying a firmer grasp on truth, or finding novelty even in its errors.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

Buy Democracy in America at Amazon Buy Democracy in America at Amazon
Read Democracy in America, vol. 2 at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past Ignorance of history History The past Ignorance

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

Democracy in America

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 2, London: Saunders and Otley, 1840, sect. 1, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 2, sect. 1, ch. 5.

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou

Read On the Pulse of Morning at poets.org

More information about this quote

Topic

History repeating itself Effects of the past The past

Author

Maya Angelou

Source

On the Pulse of Morning

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Angelou, Maya. "On the Pulse of Morning." First Inauguration of President Bill Clinton. 20 Jan. 1993, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Clinging to the past is the problem. Embracing change is the solution.

Gloria Steinem

More information about this quote

Topic

Living in the past The past Change Progress

Author

Gloria Steinem

Source

Moving Beyond Words

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Steinem, Gloria. Moving Beyond Words: Age, Rage, Sex, Power, Money, Muscles: Breaking the Boundries of Gender. Simon & Schuster, 1994.

Memories warm you up from the inside but they also tear you apart.

Haruki Murakami

Kakfa on the Shore

Buy Kafka on the Shore at Amazon Buy Kafka on the Shore at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Memories Nostalgia The past

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Kakfa on the Shore

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 海辺のカフカ [Kafka on the Shore]. Shinchosha, 2002.

The history of things that didn’t happen has never been written.

Henry Kissinger

More information about this quote

Topic

Counterfactual history The road not taken The past History

Speaker

Henry Kissinger

Source

Kissinger 1923-1968

Medium

Interview

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1972 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kissinger, Henry. Letter to Oriana Fallaci. 4 Nov. 1972.

What's done cannot be undone.

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

Buy Macbeth at Amazon Buy Macbeth at Amazon
Read Macbeth at The Folger Shakespeare Library

More information about this quote

Topic

Actions have consequences The road not taken The past

Speaker

Lady Macbeth

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Macbeth

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 5, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 5, sc. 1.

Things without all remedy
Should be without regard. What’s done is done.

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

Buy Macbeth at Amazon Buy Macbeth at Amazon
Read Macbeth at The Folger Shakespeare Library

More information about this quote

Topic

Letting go of the past Looking back The past

Speaker

Lady Macbeth

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Macbeth

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 3, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 2.

What can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished? The hard reality is, surely, that for the likes of you and I, there is little choice other than to leave our fate, ultimately, in the hands of those great gentlemen at the hub of this world who employ our services. What is the point in worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that is in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

Buy The Remains of the Day at Amazon Buy The Remains of the Day at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Dwelling on the past Regrets The past

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

Having looked the beast of the past in the eye, having asked and received forgiveness and having made amends, let us shut the door on the past-not in order to forget it but in order not to allow it to imprison us.

Desmond Tutu

More information about this quote

Topic

Moving forward Letting go of the past The past

Author

Desmond Tutu

Source

Report of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Language

English

Time

1998 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tutu, Desmond. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report. Vol. 1, The Commission, 1998, foreword.

Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.

W.H. Auden

More information about this quote

Topic

The past History The human condition

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

D.H. Lawrence

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Auden, W. H. "D. H. Lawrence." The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays. Random House, 1962.