-But rational thoughts lead only to rational thoughts, whereas irrational thoughts lead to new experiences.
Alan LightmanRead
Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life? Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life? Or those who deny the future and live two lives?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts different perspectives on living life in relation to the future, suggesting that awareness influences one's experience of life.
Alan Lightman's quote explores the concept of how one's perception of the future shapes their approach to life. It implies that those who are aware of their future possibilities might live more fully, while those who neglect or deny the future may struggle with feelings of dissatisfaction or lead conflicted lives. The essence of the quote encourages reflection on how anticipation and denial of the future impact our understanding and enjoyment of the present.
Themes
FutureLifePerceptionLivingAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing the future and planning ahead.
More from Alan Lightman
All quotes βIn this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time. The first is as rigid and metallic as a massive pendulum of iron that swings back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The second squirms and wriggles like a bluefish in a bay. The first is unyielding, predetermined. The second makes up its mind as it goes along.
Alan LightmanRead
And at the place where time stands still, one sees lovers kissing in the shadows of buildings, in a frozen embrace that will never let go. The loved one will never take his arms from where they are now, will never give back the bracelet of memories, will never journey afar from his lover, will never place himself in danger of self-sacrifice, will never fail to show his love, will never become jealous, will never fall in love with someone else, will never lose the passion of this instant of time.
Alan LightmanRead
In a world without future, each moment is the end of the world.
Alan LightmanRead
The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present.
Alan LightmanRead
Events, once happened, lose reality, alter with a glance, a storm, a night. In time, the past never happened. But who could know? Who could know that the past is not as solid as this instant.
Alan LightmanRead
Similar quotes
You have to be very careful. If you over-commercialize a social mission, it completely loses its soul.
Daniel LubetzkyRead
If not for the direct action of a John Brown and his comrades, America would still trade in the flesh of the black man.
Emma GoldmanRead
(The difficulty over the question of eternal torments lies in) how it is irreconcilable with the Goodness of God, to put any Persons at all upon a necessity of making such an Option, wherein if they choose amiss, the Misery they incur must be irrevocable.
Samuel ClarkeRead
What passes for political realism may make for lively academic debates. But it often functions, ironically, as a tool of social control, rendering us passive with an analysis that overwhelms and paralyzes us.
Parker J. PalmerRead
To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.
Viktor E. FranklRead
Speed is not part of the true Way of strategy. Speed implies that things seem fast or slow, according to whether or not they are in rhythm. Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast.
Miyamoto MusashiRead