The past

Explore 45 quotes about The past

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

L.P. Hartley

The Go-Between

More information about this quote

Topic

The past Past and present

Author

L.P. Hartley

Source

The Go-Between

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hartley, L. P. The Go-Between. Hamish Hamilton, 1953, preface.

By despising all that has preceded us, we teach others to despise ourselves.

William Hazlitt

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past Judging the past The past

Author

William Hazlitt

Source

On Reading New Books

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1827 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hazlitt, William. "On Reading New Books." Monthly Magazine, July 1827.

Current Citation

Hazlitt, William. "On Reading New Books." The Selected Writings of William Hazlitt. Vol. 9, Routledge, 2020.

The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.

Henri Bergson

More information about this quote

Topic

Past and present Effects of the past The past

Author

Henri Bergson

Source

Évolution créatrice

Language

French

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Bergson, Henri. L'Évolution créatrice [Creative Evolution]. 1907.

Current Citation

Bergson, Henri. Creative Evolution. Dover Publications, 1998.

Yeah now, well, the thing about the old days... They the old days.

Slim Charles

The Wire

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Topic

Dwelling on the past The past

Speaker

Slim Charles

Actor

Anwan Glover

Source

The Wire

Medium

TV program

Genre

Crime (TV) Drama (TV) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Home Rooms." The Wire, written by David Simon and Richard Price and Ed Burns, directed by Seith Mann, season 4, episode 3, Blown Deadline Productions and Home Box Office, 2006.

Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

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More information about this quote

Topic

The past Memory

Speaker

Elizabeth Bennet

Author

Jane Austen

Source

Pride and Prejudice

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1813 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Vol. 3, London: Thomas Egerton, 1813, ch. 16.

Current Citation

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Books, 2002, ch. 16.

What is over and done with, one does not discuss. What has already taken its course, one does not criticize; what already belongs to the past, one does not censure.

Confucius

Quoted in Analects

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Topic

Letting go of the past The past

Speaker

Confucius

Source

Analects

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

221 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Confucius. 論語 [The Analects]. c. 479 BCE.

Current Citation

Confucius. The Analects, edited and translated by Annping Chin. Penguin Classics, 2014.

There were poets before Homer.

Cicero

Brutus

More information about this quote

Topic

Poetry The past

Author

Cicero

Source

Brutus

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

46 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Brutus. c. 46 BC, sect. 71.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. "Brutus." Cicero: Brutus and Orator, translated by Robert A. Kaster. Oxford University Press, 2020, sect. 71.

The best of Prophets of the future is the Past.

Lord Byron

More information about this quote

Topic

Past and future Past as prologue The past The future

Author

Lord Byron

Source

Journals of Lord Byron

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1821 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Lord Byron. Journal entry. 28 Jan. 1821.

Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Satchel Paige

More information about this quote

Topic

Dwelling on the past Looking back The past

Author

Satchel Paige

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Page, Satchel. Quoted in "The Fabulous Satchel Page." Written by Richard Donovan. Collier's, 5 Jun. 1953.

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963 Thanksgiving Day Speech

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More information about this quote

Topic

The past The future Tomorrow Clean slate

Speaker

Lyndon B. Johnson

Source

1963 Thanksgiving Day Speech

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Johnson, Lyndon B. Thanksgiving message. 28 Nov. 1963, Washington, DC, USA.

The past is always with us. Where we come from, what we go through, how we go through it; all this shit matters.

D'Angelo Barksdale

The Wire

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More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past The past

Speaker

D'Angelo Barksdale

Actor

Larry Gilliard Jr.

Source

The Wire

Medium

TV program

Genre

Crime (TV) Drama (TV) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"All Prologue." The Wire, written by David Simon and Ed Burns and Joy Kecken, directed by Steve Shill, season 2, episode 6, Blown Deadline Productions and Home Box Office, 2003.

That sign of old age: extolling the past at the expense of the present.

Sydney Smith

More information about this quote

Topic

Kids these days The past Old age

Speaker

Sydney Smith

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1845 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Smith, Sydney. Quoted in A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by Saba Holland. Vol. 1, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855, ch. 11.

The book says we might be through with the past, but the past is not through with us!

Magnolia

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More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past The past

Speaker

Jimmy Gator

Actor

Philip Baker Hall

Source

Magnolia

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) Drama (film) Psychological drama Drama

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Magnolia. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Ghoulardi Film Company/JoAnne Sellar Productions, 1999.

Look back, and smile at perils past!

Sir Walter Scott

More information about this quote

Topic

Looking back The past

Author

Sir Walter Scott

Source

The Bridal of Triermain

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1813 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Scott, Walter, Sir [published anonymously]. "The Bridal of Triermain, or The Vale of St John." The Bridal of Triermain, Harold the Dauntless, Field of Waterloo, and Other Poems. Edinburgh: John Ballantyne and Co./London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Gale, Curtis, and Fenner, 1813.

No man who is correctly informed as to the past will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the present.

More information about this quote

Topic

Past and present The past The present

Author

Thomas Macaulay

Source

The History of England

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Macaulay, Thomas. The History of England: From the Accession of James II. Vol. 1, Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1848.

Current Citation

Macaulay, Thomas. The History of England from the Accession of James II, 5 Volume Set. The Folio Society, 2009.

What's past is prologue.

William Shakespeare

The Tempest

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Topic

Past as prologue Past and future The past

Speaker

Antonio

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

The Tempest

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 2, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 1.

Things bygone are the only things that last:
The Present is mere grass, quick-mown away;
The Past is stone, and stands for ever fast.

Eugene Lee-Hamilton

More information about this quote

Topic

Past and present The past The present Impermanence

Author

Eugene Lee-Hamilton

Source

Sonnets of the Wingless Hours

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Language

English

Time

1894 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lee-Hamilton, Eugene. "Roman Baths." Sonnets of the Wingless Hours. Chicago and Cambridge: Stone & Kimball, 1894.

The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.

Edward Thomas

More information about this quote

Topic

Idealizing the past The past

Author

Edward Thomas

Source

Early One Morning

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Thomas, Edward. "Early One Morning." Poems. Henry Holt/Selwyn & Blount, 1917, I. 15.

I guess sometimes the past just catches up with you, whether you want it to or not.

The Green Mile

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More information about this quote

Topic

Past and present Effects of the past The past

Speaker

Old Paul Edgecomb

Actor

Dabbs Greer

Source

The Green Mile

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Green Mile. Directed by Frank Darabont, Castle Rock Entertainment/Darkwoods Productions, 1999.

The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke us and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it.

Milan Kundera

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

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More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past The past

Author

Milan Kundera

Source

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Medium

Novel

Language

Czech

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kundera, Milan. Le Livre du rire et de l'oubli [The Book of Laughter and Forgetting]. Gallimard, 1979.

Current Citation

Kundera, Milan. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, translated by Aaron Asher. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1999.