Past Quotes | Beyond Motive

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Past Quotes

"We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past."

"We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past."

Derek Walcott, Trinidadian Playwright

31

"Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past."

"Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past."

Berenice Abbott, American Photographer

Past, Photography, Present

25

"Pursuing employment or climatic relief, we live in voluntary exile from our extended families and our longer past, but in an involuntary exile from ourselves and our own past."

"Pursuing employment or climatic relief, we live in voluntary exile from our extended families and our longer past, but in an involuntary exile from ourselves and our own past."

John Thorn, American Historian

24

"The lessons of the past are ignored and obliterated in a contemporary antagonism known as the generation gap."

"The lessons of the past are ignored and obliterated in a contemporary antagonism known as the generation gap."

Spiro T. Agnew, American Politician

24

"It should be clear to all, after the past ten years, that NATO isn't attacking Serbia because of Milosevic; it is attacking Milosevic because of Serbia."

"It should be clear to all, after the past ten years, that NATO isn't attacking Serbia because of Milosevic; it is attacking Milosevic because of Serbia."

Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslavian Criminal

23

"What is past is prologue."

"What is past is prologue."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

20

"When I left prison, I had to figure out how to embrace my past."

"When I left prison, I had to figure out how to embrace my past."

Fernando Flores, Chilean Politician

19

"The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has happened."

"The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has happened."

Peter Berger, American Theologian

17

"What is buried in the past of one generation falls to the next to claim."

"What is buried in the past of one generation falls to the next to claim."

Susan Griffin, American Writer

11

"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable."

"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable."

George S. Patton, American Soldier

11

"There is no prodigy in our profession. If you see all the great singer of the past, none of them are."

"There is no prodigy in our profession. If you see all the great singer of the past, none of them are."

Luciano Pavarotti, Italian Musician

Past, Profession

10

"I want to praise activists through the years. I praise those of the past as well, to have them honored."

"I want to praise activists through the years. I praise those of the past as well, to have them honored."

Studs Terkel, American Journalist

Past, Praise, Want, Years

10

"The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember."

"The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

10

"Kerry is an adult - he thinks things through. He learns from the present as well as the past. To George Bush, thinking things through is for sissies."

"Kerry is an adult - he thinks things through. He learns from the present as well as the past. To George Bush, thinking things through is for sissies."

Richard Dreyfuss, American Actor

Past, Present, Thinking

9

"Never revisit the past, that's dangerous. You know, move on."

"Never revisit the past, that's dangerous. You know, move on."

Robert Redford, American Actor

8

"You can't undo the past... but you can certainly not repeat it."

"You can't undo the past... but you can certainly not repeat it."

Bruce Willis, American Actor

8

"It's hard to avoid the past but one goes forward."

"It's hard to avoid the past but one goes forward."

Andy Summers, English Musician

8

"Lefty Grove could throw a lamb chop past a wolf."

"Lefty Grove could throw a lamb chop past a wolf."

Arthur Baer, American Humorist

8

"When you are forty, half of you belongs to the past... And when you are seventy, nearly all of you."

"When you are forty, half of you belongs to the past... And when you are seventy, nearly all of you."

Jean Anouilh, French Playwright

8

"Creeds and castes, and all forms of intellectual and emotional grouping, belong to the past."

"Creeds and castes, and all forms of intellectual and emotional grouping, belong to the past."

Herbert Read, English Poet

7

"In reality, the past is preserved by itself automatically."

"In reality, the past is preserved by itself automatically."

Henri Bergson, French Scientist

7

"Look to the past and remember no empire rises that sooner or later won't fall."

"Look to the past and remember no empire rises that sooner or later won't fall."

Al Stewart, Scottish Musician

7

"The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image."

"The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image."

Doris Kearns Goodwin, American Historian

7

"So when you put the kick in and the other runners go past you, it's game over!"

"So when you put the kick in and the other runners go past you, it's game over!"

Michael East, American Athlete

7

"A novel is a static thing that one moves through; a play is a dynamic thing that moves past one."

"A novel is a static thing that one moves through; a play is a dynamic thing that moves past one."

Kenneth Tynan, English Critic

6

"Schumacher wouldn't have let him past voluntarily. Of course he did it voluntarily, but he had to do it."

"Schumacher wouldn't have let him past voluntarily. Of course he did it voluntarily, but he had to do it."

Murray Walker, English Entertainer

6

"Because usually in the past when I was in a big band, that was all I did."

"Because usually in the past when I was in a big band, that was all I did."

Kathy Valentine, American Musician

6

"If you're ever wishing for things to go back to the way they were. You just have to look up."

"If you're ever wishing for things to go back to the way they were. You just have to look up."

Lauren Oliver, American Author

Past, Nostalgia, Memory, Perspective, Change

6

"Nobody seriously believes in the social philosophies of the immediate past."

"Nobody seriously believes in the social philosophies of the immediate past."

Herbert Read, English Poet

6

"The past cannot be cured."

"The past cannot be cured."

Elizabeth I, English Royalty

5

"I don't want to be disrespectful of the president of the United States, but as a political person, one of the things I appreciated about this president, in the past year especially, is he is a fantastic candidate."

"I don't want to be disrespectful of the president of the United States, but as a political person, one of the things I appreciated about this president, in the past year especially, is he is a fantastic candidate."

Ed Gillespie, American Politician

Past, President, States, United

5

"I do like to drive fast and I have gotten pulled over in the past. I use my skills to get out of tickets."

"I do like to drive fast and I have gotten pulled over in the past. I use my skills to get out of tickets."

Josie Maran, American Model

5

"If you go too soon, you can come unstuck with 50m left when the guys are going past you."

"If you go too soon, you can come unstuck with 50m left when the guys are going past you."

Michael East, American Athlete

5

"The past becomes a texture, an ambience to our present."

"The past becomes a texture, an ambience to our present."

Paul Scott, British Novelist

5

"Polls are frequently taken to try to tease out or determine likely directions and trends, but once taken, they belong to the past, requiring that new polls be taken."

"Polls are frequently taken to try to tease out or determine likely directions and trends, but once taken, they belong to the past, requiring that new polls be taken."

Alan Dundes, American Educator

5

"That's the past. I don't agree with retrospect."

"That's the past. I don't agree with retrospect."

Steve Carlton, American Athlete

5

"I don't like to dwell on the past."

"I don't like to dwell on the past."

Tina Turner, American Musician

5

"I appeared on a show with Jonathan Harris on it-the Bill Dana show-even before Lost In Space. Someone gave me a tape of it in the past year, but in all these years we hadn't remembered."

"I appeared on a show with Jonathan Harris on it-the Bill Dana show-even before Lost In Space. Someone gave me a tape of it in the past year, but in all these years we hadn't remembered."

Mark Goddard, American Actor

Past, Space, Years

5

"Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?"

"Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?"

Camille Paglia, American Author

5

"I was at my best at a little past forty, when I was a professor at Oxford."

"I was at my best at a little past forty, when I was a professor at Oxford."

Godfrey Harold Hardy, British Mathematician

4

"I was always attracted to the past as a kid."

"I was always attracted to the past as a kid."

Stanley Tucci, American Actor

4

"As we get past our superficial material wants and instant gratification we connect to a deeper part of ourselves, as well as to others, and the universe."

"As we get past our superficial material wants and instant gratification we connect to a deeper part of ourselves, as well as to others, and the universe."

Judith Wright, Australian Poet

4

"If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past."

"If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past."

Baruch Spinoza, Dutch Philosopher

Past, Present, Study, Want

4

"It was really a pleasure to play someone who's literally pushed past her breaking point repeatedly."

"It was really a pleasure to play someone who's literally pushed past her breaking point repeatedly."

Jeri Ryan, American Actress

Past, Play, Pleasure

4

"We need not destroy the past. It is gone."

"We need not destroy the past. It is gone."

John Cage, American Composer

4

"Saddam Hussein has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."

"Saddam Hussein has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."

Henry Waxman, American Politician

Past, Resolution, Weapons, Years

4

"We saw hundreds of programs to redevelop the central city, the neighborhoods, in the past."

"We saw hundreds of programs to redevelop the central city, the neighborhoods, in the past."

Jane Byrne, American Politician

4

"The other inmates stand in a long straight line, flanked by guards, and I am dragged past them. I do not respect them, because they will not run - will not try to escape."

"The other inmates stand in a long straight line, flanked by guards, and I am dragged past them. I do not respect them, because they will not run - will not try to escape."

Jack Henry Abbott, American Author

Past, Respect, Will

4

"Happy is the person who cherishes the precious lessons of the past and lives vigorously in the present."

"Happy is the person who cherishes the precious lessons of the past and lives vigorously in the present."

Jerome Hines, American Musician

4

"One does not substitute oneself for the past, one merely adds to it a new link."

"One does not substitute oneself for the past, one merely adds to it a new link."

Paul Cezanne, French Artist

4

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