Top 100 Past, Present, Future Quotes To Shape Your Whole Life

Past, present, future quotes are truly inspirational in many ways.

You cannot go back to your past or jump to your future. The only constant moment you have in your life is the present one.

Often, as humans we fail to realize the value of our present and lose precious moments, either worrying about the past that cannot be changed or fearing the future that's yet to come. But, in today's world, more and more people are starting to realize the importance of living in the moment.

Humans as a collective are learning to live mindfully; they are starting to worry less about yesterday or fearing their tomorrow.

From workplace quotes about seizing the day to motivational past, present, future quotes about living when it matters, there are numerous past, present, future quotes to inspire everyone to live in the present, cherish the past and look forward to the future.

We have gathered the best past, present, future quotes that will hopefully help to shape your whole life. If you like reading these past, present, future quotes and sayings, you can also check out these path quotes or keep going quotes for further inspirational and motivational quotes.

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The Best Past, Present, Future Quotes

Read some of the best past, present, future quotes in this section.

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

- Thomas S. Monson.

2. "Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."

- Bil Keane.

3. "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

- Albert Einstein.

4. "Never erase your past. It shapes who you are today and will help you to be the person you'll be tomorrow."

- Ziad K. Abdelnour.

5. "Remember the past, plan for the future, but live for today, because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come."

- Luke the Evangelist.

6. "The future depends on what we do in the present."  

- Mahatma Gandhi.

7. "The past exists only in our memories, the future only in our plans. The present is our only reality."

- Robert M. Pirsig.

8. "You have to know the past to understand the present."

- Carl Sagan.

9. "We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future."

- Robin Sharma.

10. "The future hasn't happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I'm in."

- Annie Lennox.

11. "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

- Mother Teresa.

12. "Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present."

- Albert Camus, 'Notebooks 1935-1942'.

13. "The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind."

- Kiran Desai, 'The Inheritance Of Loss'.

14. "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

- Gautama Buddha, 'Sayings Of Buddha'.

15. "The future starts today, not tomorrow."

- Pope John Paul II.

16. "The  present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine."

- Nikola Tesla.

17. "The  past is a ghost, the future a dream and all we ever have is now."

- Bill Cosby.

18. "Stop longing. You poison today’s ease, reaching always for tomorrow."

- Robin Hobb, 'Fool's Errand'.

19. "'How do you get so empty?' he wondered. 'Who takes it out of you?'"

- Ray Bradbury, 'Fahrenheit 451'.

20. "The past attracts me, the present frightens me, because the future is death."

- Guy de Maupassant, 'The  Complete Short Stories Of Guy De Maupassant, Part One'.

Quotes About The Past

Among all of the best past, present, future quotes, there are many good quotes about the past.

21. "The past is a stepping stone, not a millstone."

- Robert Plant.

22. "The past has no power over the present moment."

- Eckhart Tolle.

23. "When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago."

- Friedrich Nietzsche.

24. "I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today."

- Dwayne Johnson.

25. "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

- Thomas Jefferson.

26. "Hanging on to resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head."

- Ann Landers.

27. "Study the past, if you would divine the future."

- Confucius.

28. "Forgiveness means letting go of the past."

- Gerald Jampolsky.

29. "I’m looking forward to the future and feeling grateful for the past."

- Mike Rowe.

30. "I use memories, but I will not allow memories to use me."

- Deepak Chopra.

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

- Paul Eldridge.

32. "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

- Lesley Hartley.

33. "The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it."

- Mignon McLaughlin.

34. "Bring the past only if only you are going to build from it."

- Domenico Cieri Estrada.

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

- John Cage.

36. "The one charm of the past is that it is the past."

- Oscar Wilde.

37. "There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday."

- Robert Nathan.

38. "I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes."

- Carl Sandburg.

39. "The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post."

- L. Thomas Holdcroft.

40. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

- George Santayana.

Quotes About The Future

The past, present, and future are wildly different. You can read quotes about the future below.

41. "The best way to predict the future is to create it."

- Abraham Lincoln.

42. "Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today."

- Malcolm X.

43. "The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power."

- Mary Pickford.

44. "If we could unfold the future, the present would be our greatest care."

- Edward Counsel.

45. "Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay."

- Simone de Beauvoir.

46. "A person can change his future by merely changing his attitude."

- Earl Nightingale.

47. "Always remember that the future comes one day at a time."

- Dean Acheson.

48. "We invest in the future."

- Greg Plitt.

49. "There is nothing like a dream to create the future."

- Victor Hugo.

50. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt. 

51. "Understand: the future belongs to groups that are fluid, fast, and nonlinear."

- Robert Greene.

52. "There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future."

- Augustine Of Hippo.

53. "He who has courage despises the future."

- Napoleon Bonaparte.

54. "Understand your past, live this moment, dream your future."

- Maxime Lagacé.

55. "Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."

- Percy Bysshe Shelley.

56. "We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it."

- Barack Obama.

57. "The empires of the future will be empires of the mind."

- Winston Churchill.

58. "The future has a way of arriving unannounced."

- George Will.

59. "The technology is unstoppable. The future is bright."

- Naval Ravikant.

60. "The future is always beginning now."

- Mark Strand.

Quotes About The Present

Live today and read these quotes about the present, including quotes about people who dwell in the past.

61. "The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness."

- Abraham Maslow.

62. "Do not ruin today with mourning tomorrow."

- Catherynne M. Valente.

63. "Your life requires your mindful presence in order to live it. Be here now."

- Akiroq Brost.

64. "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

- American proverb.

65. "The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditation on the past."

- André Maurois.

66. "If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."

- Thich Nhat Hanh.

67. "Mindfulness can help people of any age that’s because we become what we think."

- Goldie Hawn.

68. "Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us."

- Jean de La Bruyère.

69. "Focus on opportunities not setbacks. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t. Focus on the present moment, not the past or the future."

- Akiroq Brost.

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

- Buddha.

71. "Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear."

- Thich Nhat Hanh.

72. "Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going."

- Tennessee Williams.

73. "The point of power is always in the present moment."

- Louise L. Hay.

74. "Take each day as it comes and focus on the present moment."

- Vera Lynn.

75. "Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment, because life is now."

- Oprah Winfrey.

76. "We have to get back to the beauty of just being alive in this present moment."

- Mary McDonnell.

77. "A great hallmark of mental wellness is the ability to be in the present moment, fully and with no thoughts of being elsewhere."

- Wayne Dyer.

78. "The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked."

- Amy Smart.

79. "We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment."

- Chanakya.

80. "The present moment, if you think about it, is the only time there is. No matter what time it is, it is always now."

- Marianne Williamson.

Past, Present, Future Love Quotes

Here, you will find quotes about the past, present, and future in relationships and in love. All matters of the heart from every era are shared here.

81. "Men who think that a woman's past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak."

- Marilyn Monroe. 

82. "Love doesn't erase the past, but it makes the future different." 

- Gary Chapman. 

83. "Just because you have a past with someone, doesn't mean you should have a future with them." 

- Robert Tew. 

84. "He loved me, but he doesn't love me anymore, and it's not the end of the world."

- Jennifer Weiner. 

85. "He who has loved and who betrays love does harm not only to the image of the past, but to the past itself."

- Theodor Adorno. 

86. "I haven't had that one great love, which is good. I don't want that to be in the past - I want it to be in the future." 

- Taylor Swift. 

87. "It's better to have loved and lost than to do forty pounds of laundry a week."

- Laurence J Peter. 

88. "Love your past and forgive your hurts. For your past is 'you' and you are your 'past'." 

- E.C. Addison Steele. 

89. "Nothing of life is lost; no, not even the experiences of the past you so cherish and believe lost." 

- Angelina Kiena Mascari. 

90. "You find new love not to forget the past love. But you forget the past because of that new love."

- Ayaka. 

The Best Past To Present Quotes

Here you can find quotes about the past and future, and also some to be present quotes that tell you to be in the moment and help you define who you are.

91. "Change is the law of life. Those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."

- John F. Kennedy.

92. "Look back and smile on perils past."

- Walter Scott.

93. "We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future."

- George Bernard Shaw.

94. "The core principle for being at peace in the present moment is to act or accept, but never stay stuck."

- John Kuypers.

95. "Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

- Nido Qubein.

96. "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

- Alan Kay.

97. "If you can create something inspirational for the future, it’s easy to let go of the past."

- Melchor Lim.

98. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

- Abraham Lincoln.

99. "History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."

- John F. Kennedy.

100. "What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind."

- Buddha.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for past, present, future quotes, then why not take a look at these past quotes or you got this quotes for more family, friendship, and workplace quotes?