Past Quotes

• The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.

  Thomas S. Monson

  Inspirational, Life, Spiritual

  288 Copy quote

• All the past is here, present to be tried; let it approve itself if it can.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Ifs

  Henry David Thoreau (2011). “The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861”, p.9, New York Review of Books

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  If you are carrying strong feelings about something that happened in your past, they may hinder your ability to live in the present.

  Les Brown

  Strong, Powerful, Feelings

  96 Copy quote
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  You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

  Johnny Cash

  Life, Bullying, Mistake

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

  Oscar Wilde (2005). “The Prose of Oscar Wilde”, p.641, Cosimo, Inc.

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  I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then.

  Lewis Carroll

  Life, Change, Time

  Alice's Adventures inWonderland ch. 10 (1865)

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• Not reaching back for what was lost in my yesterdays. And not reaching for what I hope will be in my tomorrow. But living fully with what is right in front of me. And truly seeing the gift of this moment.

  Lysa TerKeurst

  Inspirational, Hope, Live Life

  28 Copy quote

• Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

  Norman Vincent Peale

  Mistake, Optimism, Worry

  22 Copy quote

• In the carriages of the past, you can't go anywhere.

  Maxim Gorky

  Curiosity, Mindfulness, Live In The Present

  91 Copy quote

• Adieu! but let me cherish, still, The hope with which I cannot part. Contempt may wound, and coldness chill, But still it lingers in my heart. And who can tell but Heaven, at last, May answer all my thousand prayers, And bid the future pay the past With joy for anguish, smiles for tears?

  Anne Bronte

  Prayer, Heart, Joy

  Anne Bronte (2006). “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, p.212, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.

  Will Rogers

  Inspirational, Motivational, Moving On

  108 Copy quote

• The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character.

  Isabelle Eberhardt

  Letting Go, Spiritual, Character

  54 Copy quote

• Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

  Gautama Buddha

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  50 Copy quote
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  Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.

  Mother Teresa

  Life, New Year, Mother

  Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa of Calcutta (2010). “In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories & Prayers”, p.17, New World Library

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• Every past is worth condemning.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Wise, History, Condemning

  Friedrich Nietzsche “Delphi Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (Illustrated): Friedrich Nietzsche”, Delphi Classics

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• One reason God created time was so that there would be a place to bury the failures of the past.

  James Long

  Wise, Time, Would Be

  20 Copy quote

• Forget about the past. It does not exist, except in your memory. Drop it. And stop worrying about how you're going to get through tomorrow. Life is going on right here, right now - pay attention to that and all will be well.

  Neale Donald Walsch

  Letting Go, Memories, Worry

  29 Copy quote

• To what a degree the same past can leave different marks - and especially admit of different interpretations.

  Andre Gide

  Wise, Degrees, Different

  7 Copy quote

• What is past is prologue.

  William Shakespeare

  Time, History, Prologue

  'The Tempest' (1611) act 2, sc. 1, l. [261]

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• I am dead already. Physical death will make no difference in my case. I am timeless being. I am free of desire or fear, because I do not remember the past or imagine the future. Where there are no names and shapes, how can there be desire and fear? With desirelessness comes timelessness. I am safe, because what is not, cannot touch what is. You feel unsafe, because you imagine danger. Of course, your body as such is complex and vulnerable and needs protection. But not you. Once you realize your own unassailable being, you will be at peace.

  Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

  Death, Peace, Fear

  28 Copy quote

• Few cultures have not produced the idea that in some past era the world ran better than it does now.

  Elizabeth Janeway

  Ideas, Doe, Culture

  Elizabeth Janeway (1971). “Man's World Woman's Place”

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• The one charm of the past is that it is the past.

  Oscar Wilde

  Charm, Past Present Future, Forget The Past

  Oscar Wilde, Moira Muldoon (2005). “The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings”, p.110, Simon and Schuster

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• Our past may explain why we're suffering but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage.

  Joyce Meyer

  Suffering, Use, May

  Joyce Meyer (2008). “The Power of Being Positive: Enjoying God Forever”, p.19, Hachette UK

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• Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Life, Change

  Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.517, Best Books on

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• As the great Confucius said, "The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change." Flow. But we keep looking back, don't we? We cling to things in the past and cling to things in the present...Do you want to enjoy a symphony? Don't hold on to a few bars of the music. Don't hold on to a couple of notes. Let them pass, let them flow. The whole enjoyment of a symphony lies in your readiness to allow the notes to pass.

  Anthony de Mello

  Happiness, Couple, Lying

  96 Copy quote