Past Quotes | Beyond Motive 2/4

top of page

Past Quotes

"I wouldn't know any newer bands. We're past the pimple stage."

"I wouldn't know any newer bands. We're past the pimple stage."

Angus Young, Scottish Musician

39

"The ball whizzes past like a bumblebee and the Indians are in the sea."

"The ball whizzes past like a bumblebee and the Indians are in the sea."

Navjot Singh Sidhu, Indian Entertainer

39

"What I find interesting about folklore is the dialogue it gives us with storytellers from centuries past."

"What I find interesting about folklore is the dialogue it gives us with storytellers from centuries past."

Terri Windling, American Artist

38

"I had read too many memoirs that were written after the writer or the director was past his or her prime."

"I had read too many memoirs that were written after the writer or the director was past his or her prime."

Joe Eszterhas, Hungarian Writer

38

"The past nine years in San Diego have represented such a period of questioning."

"The past nine years in San Diego have represented such a period of questioning."

Brian Ferneyhough, British Composer

Past, Questioning, Years

38

"The past cannot be cured."

"The past cannot be cured."

Elizabeth I, English Royalty

37

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

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

Henri Bergson, French Scientist

37

"You cannot survive if you do not know the past."

"You cannot survive if you do not know the past."

Oriana Fallaci, Italian Journalist

37

"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

37

"We have to look forward and keep filming new films and not get stuck in the past."

"We have to look forward and keep filming new films and not get stuck in the past."

Nick Park, British Director

37

"We are all part of a tradition, at least we depend on the past."

"We are all part of a tradition, at least we depend on the past."

Klaus Schulze, German Composer

Past, Tradition

37

"The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either."

"The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either."

Mick Jagger, English Musician

Past, Regret, Want

36

"What happened in the past is just that, the past. Champion or not."

"What happened in the past is just that, the past. Champion or not."

Steve Nash, Canadian Athlete

36

"The past has to inform the present."

"The past has to inform the present."

John Turturro, American Actor

36

"Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past."

"Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past."

Harry S. Truman, American President

36

"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

35

"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

35

"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

35

"It has become much more difficult to smuggle dangerous substances across our borders over the past three years, and this is creating real problems for drug traffickers."

"It has become much more difficult to smuggle dangerous substances across our borders over the past three years, and this is creating real problems for drug traffickers."

John Walters, British Musician

Past, Problems, Years

35

"I'm competitive with myself. I always try to push past my own borders."

"I'm competitive with myself. I always try to push past my own borders."

Tyra Banks, American Model

35

"Even in Britain, the trade unions tell me that employment contracts have less protection than in the past."

"Even in Britain, the trade unions tell me that employment contracts have less protection than in the past."

Jacques Delors, French Economist

Past, Protection, Trade

35

"I have had many opportunities to visit universities all over the world in the past 50 years."

"I have had many opportunities to visit universities all over the world in the past 50 years."

John Pople, English Scientist

Past, Visit, World, Years

34

"The free world must not prove itself worthy of its own past."

"The free world must not prove itself worthy of its own past."

Dwight D. Eisenhower, American President

34

"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

33

"There isn't a dearth of it, but I will confess that it's harder for me to find songs on which I'm willing to invest anything from ten to fifteen hours writing an arrangement than it was in times past."

"There isn't a dearth of it, but I will confess that it's harder for me to find songs on which I'm willing to invest anything from ten to fifteen hours writing an arrangement than it was in times past."

Mel Torme, American Musician

Past, Songs, Will, Writing

33

"It's been dawning on me slowly that for the past 35 years I have been cast against type, and I'm finally getting to do what I really wanted to do."

"It's been dawning on me slowly that for the past 35 years I have been cast against type, and I'm finally getting to do what I really wanted to do."

Leslie Nielsen, Canadian Actor

33

"What you don't want to do is to hang on to the aging superstar past his prime and take resources away you can otherwise use to build a better overall team."

"What you don't want to do is to hang on to the aging superstar past his prime and take resources away you can otherwise use to build a better overall team."

Tom Hicks, American Businessman

33

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

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

Maxim Gorky, Russian Novelist

33

"The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again."

"The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

33

"He had always despised people who thought about the past. To live was to leave behind, to be as free as a shipwrecked man who has lost everything."

"He had always despised people who thought about the past. To live was to leave behind, to be as free as a shipwrecked man who has lost everything."

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Past, Freedom, Living, Detachment

33

"As you know, in the past several years, month after month, radio has increased its revenues - some of it even coming from Dot-Com advertisers. So, radio is a survivor."

"As you know, in the past several years, month after month, radio has increased its revenues - some of it even coming from Dot-Com advertisers. So, radio is a survivor."

Casey Kasem, American Broadcaster

32

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it without a sense of ironic futility."

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it without a sense of ironic futility."

Errol Morris, American Director

32

"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

32

"Look back, and smile on perils past."

"Look back, and smile on perils past."

Walter Scott, Scottish Novelist

32

"Praises for our past triumphs are as feathers to a dead bird."

"Praises for our past triumphs are as feathers to a dead bird."

Paul Eldridge, American Educator

32

"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

32

"The Federal prison population has increased more than 7-fold over the past 20 years."

"The Federal prison population has increased more than 7-fold over the past 20 years."

Bobby Scott, American Politician

Past, Population, Prison, Years

32

"I think that over the last few decades, we have seen better economic outcomes than in the past."

"I think that over the last few decades, we have seen better economic outcomes than in the past."

Martin Feldstein, American Economist

32

"Employer contribution pension plans have become increasingly popular throughout the past two decades."

"Employer contribution pension plans have become increasingly popular throughout the past two decades."

Ron Lewis, American Politician

32

"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

31

"The mill cannot grind with the water that is past."

"The mill cannot grind with the water that is past."

Daniel D. Palmer, Canadian Celebrity

31

"Films made in the spirit of the past continued to be made."

"Films made in the spirit of the past continued to be made."

Andrzej Wajda, Polish Director

31

"I went backwards and forwards over it until I was 22. And then in the past few years I began to say to myself, OK, look, I'm not messing around. This is something I want to attack, instead of thinking, I'll just see what happens with it."

"I went backwards and forwards over it until I was 22. And then in the past few years I began to say to myself, OK, look, I'm not messing around. This is something I want to attack, instead of thinking, I'll just see what happens with it."

Christian Bale, Welsh Actor

Past, Thinking, Want, Years

31

"Where I am they can smell out a hurricane. My house survived Hurricane Hazel, but it didn't get past Hugo."

"Where I am they can smell out a hurricane. My house survived Hurricane Hazel, but it didn't get past Hugo."

Mickey Spillane, American Author

31

"The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here."

"The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here."

Finley Peter Dunne, American Journalist

30

"Have you heard a single national figure tell you all of the crises of the recent past are not economic, they're cultural?"

"Have you heard a single national figure tell you all of the crises of the recent past are not economic, they're cultural?"

Newt Gingrich, American Politician

30

"If we understand the past, we are more likely to recognise what is happening around us."

"If we understand the past, we are more likely to recognise what is happening around us."

Helen Dunmore, British Poet

30

"Past is past."

"Past is past."

Pete Waterman, English Producer

30

"In the past, two colleagues died each season. It was generally accepted this could happen."

"In the past, two colleagues died each season. It was generally accepted this could happen."

Jacky Ickx, Belgian Celebrity

30

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

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

Andre Gide, French Novelist

30

bottom of page