# Quote — John Brunner, Timescoop

> You’ve been competing against the past, and that’s a contest no one can win because the past has all the advantages. We’ve forgotten all its fiddling little drawbacks: the lice, the skin infections, the disgusting personal habits and the rest of it.

- Author: [John Brunner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner.md)
- Book: [Timescoop](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/timescoop.md)
- Page: 116
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner#Timescoop_(1969)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/timescoop/youve-been-competing

## More from this book

> The screen was a polychrome swirl, like a rainbow that had been through an electric blender.

p. 64 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/timescoop/the-screen-was.md)

> We cannot allow quibbles to stand in the way of the truth.

p. 146 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/timescoop/we-cannot-allow.md)

> Well, like they say, nothing can set a precedent until it happens for the first time.

p. 122 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/timescoop/well-like-they.md)