Ariel Durant - “The present is the past rolled up for...”

“The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.”

Ariel Durant The Lessons of History

Similar quotes

“You have to know the past to understand the present.”

Carl Sagan

“Best not to mix the past with the present. The present paints the past with gold. The past paints the present with lead.”

Henry Rollins

“I'm very good at the past. It's the present I can't understand.”

Nick Hornby High Fidelity

“I'm a bad man. I need to understand the past. It illuminates the present.”

Glen Cook Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery

“The present doesn’t change the past. Is the fact that the past happened enough to make the present good? Is the past real? Was it real anymore?”

M.H. Herlong The Great Wide Sea