{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present", "heading": "Quotes about the present", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present.md", "quotes_count": 72, "authors_count": 45, "parent": { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time", "heading": "Quotes about time" }, "children": [], "quotes": [ { "id": "59964fb8-b09a-4198-a84f-f52fa72b1dcc", "slug": "pleasure-is-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giacomo-leopardi/zibaldone-the-notebooks-of-leopardi/pleasure-is-always", "text": "Pleasure is always in the past or in the future, never in the present.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Giacomo Leopardi", "slug": "giacomo-leopardi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giacomo-leopardi" }, "book": { "title": "Zibaldone: The Notebooks of Leopardi", "slug": "zibaldone-the-notebooks-of-leopardi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giacomo-leopardi/zibaldone-the-notebooks-of-leopardi" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "pleasure", "slug": "pleasure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pleasure" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giacomo_Leopardi#Zibaldone_(1898)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:47" }, { "id": "1647d641-766f-4f15-95ef-3fb3eb804073", "slug": "real-generosity-toward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/real-generosity-toward", "text": "Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to the present.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Camus", "slug": "albert-camus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus" }, "book": { "title": "The Rebel", "slug": "the-rebel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 313, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus#The_Rebel_(1951)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:03" }, { "id": "9f86d945-95d0-42ab-8e52-d939dc3885cd", "slug": "what-we-call", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/1q84/what-we-call", "text": "What we call the present is given shape by an accumulation of the past.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Haruki Murakami", "slug": "haruki-murakami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami" }, "book": { "title": "1Q84", "slug": "1q84", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/1q84" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 386, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/1Q84#Book_1_(April-June)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:38" }, { "id": "1fd3c22a-8b9e-4904-a390-e15bb91aa75d", "slug": "i-had-been", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laila-lalami/the-moors-account/i-had-been", "text": "I had been pushed further and further into a fate from which no escape or reprieve seemed possible. And so there came a moment when I stopped struggling, when I decided that I would cease making any more plans to return to the old days. I made up my mind to look upon the present as exactly what it was: it was all I had. (p232)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Laila Lalami", "slug": "laila-lalami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laila-lalami" }, "book": { "title": "The Moor's Account", "slug": "the-moors-account", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laila-lalami/the-moors-account" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Laila_Lalami#The_Moor's_Account_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:56" }, { "id": "2e603f4f-0979-4e27-85b1-1de627c3ddb4", "slug": "we-are-all", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-martinez/de-colores-means-all-of-us/we-are-all", "text": "We are all inseparable from our times, whether we realize it or not.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Elizabeth Martínez", "slug": "elizabeth-martinez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-martinez" }, "book": { "title": "De Colores Means All of Us", "slug": "de-colores-means-all-of-us", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-martinez/de-colores-means-all-of-us" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Martinez#%E2%80%9CIntroduction:_A_Call_for_Rainbow_Warriors%E2%80%9D", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:55" }, { "id": "e543f234-ab66-4b48-8f04-a9ed22816a21", "slug": "what-he-knows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maaza-mengiste/the-shadow-king/what-he-knows", "text": "What he knows is this: there is no past, there is no \"what happened\", there is only the moment that unfolds into the next, dragging everything with it, constantly renewing. Everything is happening at once.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maaza Mengiste", "slug": "maaza-mengiste", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maaza-mengiste" }, "book": { "title": "The Shadow King", "slug": "the-shadow-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maaza-mengiste/the-shadow-king" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maaza_Mengiste#Shadow_King_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:54" }, { "id": "bf1f3118-3c7c-4453-b481-ab0a865f4ac6", "slug": "no-matter-how", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jamaica-kincaid/the-autobiography-of-my-mother/no-matter-how", "text": "No matter how happy I had been in the past I do not long for it. The present is always the moment for which I love.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jamaica Kincaid", "slug": "jamaica-kincaid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jamaica-kincaid" }, "book": { "title": "The Autobiography of My Mother", "slug": "the-autobiography-of-my-mother", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jamaica-kincaid/the-autobiography-of-my-mother" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jamaica_Kincaid#The_Autobiography_of_My_Mother_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:49" }, { "id": "e29e7826-5326-46e8-8583-7dc5276cb399", "slug": "are-we-perhaps", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/convergence/are-we-perhaps", "text": "Are we perhaps guilty of temporal chauvinism, believing that our own time is uniquely important, as all generation tend to think that their time is of unique importance?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "Convergence", "slug": "convergence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/convergence" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 312, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Convergence_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:33" }, { "id": "179c12b7-66dd-4544-811b-bcdb5404598c", "slug": "see-you-get", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks/the-way-of-shadows/see-you-get", "text": "See, you get caught up in the past and you become useless to the present.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brent Weeks", "slug": "brent-weeks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks" }, "book": { "title": "The Way Of Shadows", "slug": "the-way-of-shadows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks/the-way-of-shadows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 144, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brent_Weeks#The_Way_of_Shadows_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:27" }, { "id": "429ce938-3b01-4428-9663-d1cc480c58bb", "slug": "we-are-living", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/we-are-living", "text": "\"We are living at a time when history is holding its breath,\" said Arthur Clarke, author of Childhood's End and 2001 , \"and the present is detaching itself from the past like an iceberg that has broken away from its moorings to sail across the boundless ocean.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marilyn Ferguson", "slug": "marilyn-ferguson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson" }, "book": { "title": "The Aquarian Conspiracy", "slug": "the-aquarian-conspiracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Ferguson#Chapter_Two,_Premonitions_of_Transformation_and_Conspiracy", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:20" }, { "id": "b016bd5c-6e11-4620-a113-0da7240f1cdf", "slug": "i-craved-for", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands/i-craved-for", "text": "I craved for the past, resented the present, and dreaded the future.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilfred Thesiger", "slug": "wilfred-thesiger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger" }, "book": { "title": "Arabian Sands", "slug": "arabian-sands", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 20, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "nostalgia", "slug": "nostalgia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nostalgia" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilfred_Thesiger#Arabian_Sands_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:02" }, { "id": "5531722b-8fdd-48eb-892e-8de479420bf9", "slug": "even-the-most", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-allen-paulos/a-mathematician-reads-the-newspaper/even-the-most", "text": "Even the most superficial of a newspaper reveals an important aspect of human psychology: our preoccupation with the short term.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Allen Paulos", "slug": "john-allen-paulos", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-allen-paulos" }, "book": { "title": "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper", "slug": "a-mathematician-reads-the-newspaper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-allen-paulos/a-mathematician-reads-the-newspaper" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 96, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "media", "slug": "media", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/media" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "psychology", "slug": "psychology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/psychology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Allen_Paulos#A_Mathematician_Reads_the_Newspaper_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:59" }, { "id": "2c5b76a6-4b59-4e0d-91cf-788acdf97b07", "slug": "lifes-for-living", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch/the-wheel-of-fortune/lifes-for-living", "text": "Life's for living, not for mourning ... Live in the present, not the past.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Howatch", "slug": "susan-howatch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch" }, "book": { "title": "The Wheel Of Fortune", "slug": "the-wheel-of-fortune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch/the-wheel-of-fortune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "grief", "slug": "grief", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/grief" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Howatch#Part_6:_Hal", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:45" }, { "id": "59d4c32c-958a-4b76-a73a-79fcf6434de0", "slug": "i-had-made", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/quest-for-the-white-witch/i-had-made", "text": "I had made vows and to spare, but the present cannot be ruled forever by the past.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tanith Lee", "slug": "tanith-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee" }, "book": { "title": "Quest for the White Witch", "slug": "quest-for-the-white-witch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/quest-for-the-white-witch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 283, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tanith_Lee#Quest_for_the_White_Witch_(1978)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:21" }, { "id": "308017fd-fe87-4eb8-a2e7-b44b05495277", "slug": "as-one-moves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/justin-cronin/the-ferryman/as-one-moves", "text": "As one moves out to sea, the world's dimensions change. While things on land grow distant, the sea increases in its expanse, made bluer and wilder; there is a taste of something grand in it. It makes one seem small but also connected to larger forces, part of a great planetary flow. I felt deeply inside the present moment, as if I'd entered a more authentic state of being.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Justin Cronin", "slug": "justin-cronin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/justin-cronin" }, "book": { "title": "The Ferryman", "slug": "the-ferryman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/justin-cronin/the-ferryman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "the sea", "slug": "the-sea", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-sea" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justin_Cronin#The_Ferryman_(2023)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:05" }, { "id": "b932a83e-f7c5-4f05-8efe-e3e9bcfebc2e", "slug": "we-do-not-rest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/we-do-not-rest", "text": "We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate the future as too slow in coming, as if in order to hasten its course; or we recall the past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that we wander in the times which are not ours, and do not think of the only one which belongs to us; and so idle are we that we dream of those times which are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists. For the present is generally painful to us. We conceal it from our sight, because it troubles us; and if it be delightful to us, we regret to see it pass away. We try to sustain it by the future, and think of arranging matters which are not in our power, for a time which we have no certainty of reaching. Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_II:_The_Misery_of_Man_without_God_(60-183)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:48" }, { "id": "4302a86f-a731-4d67-b959-3a905e29b889", "slug": "sacred-time-is-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leslie-marmon-silko/almanac-of-the-dead/sacred-time-is-always", "text": "Sacred time is always in the Present. (Part One, Book Five: The Border)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Leslie Marmon Silko", "slug": "leslie-marmon-silko", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leslie-marmon-silko" }, "book": { "title": "Almanac of the Dead", "slug": "almanac-of-the-dead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leslie-marmon-silko/almanac-of-the-dead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leslie_Marmon_Silko#Almanac_of_the_Dead_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:00" }, { "id": "84039ac7-b920-45e1-aa66-e2582e23d313", "slug": "men-live-their", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/men-live-their", "text": "Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Dance with Dragons", "slug": "a-dance-with-dragons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" }, { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Dance_with_Dragons_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:55" }, { "id": "3b84925c-22b5-4173-9be7-3a237973a9ba", "slug": "your-predator-is-close", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-sheckley/dimension-of-miracles/your-predator-is-close", "text": "“Your predator is close behind you and will infallibly be your death.” “I don’t doubt it,” Carmody said, in a moment of strange calm.” But in terms of long-range planning, I never did expect to get out of this Universe alive.” “That is meaningless,” the Prize said. “The fact is, you have lost everything.” “I don’t agree,” Carmody said. “Permit me to point out that I am presently still alive.” “Agreed. But only for the moment.” “I have always been alive only for the moment,” Carmody said. “I could never count on more. It was my error to expect more. That holds true, I believe, for all of my possible and potential circumstances.” “Then what do you hope to achieve with your moment?” “Nothing,” Carmody said. “Everything.” “I don’t understand you any longer,” the Prize said. “Something about you has changed, Carmody. What is it?” “A minor thing,” Carmody told him. “I have simply given up a longevity which I never possessed anyhow. I have turned away from the con game which the Gods run in their heavenly sideshow. I no longer care under which shell the pea of immortality might be found. I don’t need it. I have my moment, which is quite enough.” “Saint Carmody,” the Prize said, in tones of deepest sarcasm. “No more than a shadow’s breadth separates you and death! What will you do now with your pitiable moment?” “I shall continue to live it,” Carmody said. “That is what moments are for.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Sheckley", "slug": "robert-sheckley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-sheckley" }, "book": { "title": "Dimension of Miracles", "slug": "dimension-of-miracles", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-sheckley/dimension-of-miracles" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 189, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Sheckley#Dimension_of_Miracles_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:33" }, { "id": "98f72f64-261a-4751-99d9-2fc1ae83190e", "slug": "during-these-travels", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ram-dass/be-here-now/during-these-travels", "text": "During these travels he's starting to train me in a most interesting way. We'd be sitting somewhere and I'd say, \"Did I ever tell you about the time that Tim and I ...\" And he'd say, \"Don't think about the past. Just be here now.\" Silence. And I'd say, \"How long do you think we're going to be on this trip?\" And he'd say, \"Don't think about the future. Just be here now.\" I'd say, \"You know, I really feel crumby, my hips are hurting ...\" \"Emotions are like waves. Watch them disappear in the distance on the vast calm ocean.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ram Dass", "slug": "ram-dass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ram-dass" }, "book": { "title": "Be Here Now", "slug": "be-here-now", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ram-dass/be-here-now" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "emotions", "slug": "emotions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ram_Dass#Be_Here_Now_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:16" }, { "id": "57c7274d-4e54-4c35-99e4-b565afc4c221", "slug": "there-is-only", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper/the-uncertain-midnight/there-is-only", "text": "There is only the eternal serial moment of now. It contains the total pattern, the complete history.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edmund Cooper", "slug": "edmund-cooper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper" }, "book": { "title": "The Uncertain Midnight", "slug": "the-uncertain-midnight", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper/the-uncertain-midnight" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Cooper#The_Uncertain_Midnight_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:58" }, { "id": "25539ce7-cd1e-4283-bb04-0d9d78296b20", "slug": "you-mustnt-forget", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/detective-story/you-mustnt-forget", "text": "\"You mustn’t forget about your future, Enrique.\" \"I’m living for the present, Dad.\" \"Ah!\" he waved that aside. \"The present is just temporary.\" ‘ I boiled up. \"I know,\" I burst out. ‘It only has to be accepted temporarily — temporarily, but every day afresh. And every day ever more. Temporarily. Until we have lived to the end of our temporary lives, and one fine day we temporarily die.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Imre Kertész", "slug": "imre-kertesz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz" }, "book": { "title": "Detective Story", "slug": "detective-story", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/detective-story" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 66, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Imre_Kert%C3%A9sz#Detective_Story_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:30" }, { "id": "e546548d-2aad-4d7b-8e35-ea9f10b3ee92", "slug": "if-i-fret", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/taran-wanderer/if-i-fret", "text": "If I fret over tomorrow, I'll have little joy today.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lloyd Alexander", "slug": "lloyd-alexander", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander" }, "book": { "title": "Taran Wanderer", "slug": "taran-wanderer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/taran-wanderer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander#Book_IV:_Taran_Wanderer_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:07" }, { "id": "21468dad-5805-4956-bec7-718f43fd3fce", "slug": "the-present-alone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-chopin/the-awakening/the-present-alone", "text": "The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kate Chopin", "slug": "kate-chopin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-chopin" }, "book": { "title": "The Awakening", "slug": "the-awakening", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-chopin/the-awakening" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Chopin#The_Awakening_(1899)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:47" }, { "id": "d2570e37-8606-400e-8397-f04cead66347", "slug": "the-miracle-of-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is/the-miracle-of-love", "text": "The miracle of love comes to us in the presence of the uninterpreted moment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Byron Katie", "slug": "byron-katie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie" }, "book": { "title": "Loving What Is", "slug": "loving-what-is", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Byron_Katie#Loving_What_Is:_Four_Questions_That_Can_Change_Your_Life_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:45" }, { "id": "2e3eca5e-d412-47dc-b8c0-3429ace0519f", "slug": "states-of-profound", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/states-of-profound", "text": "States of profound happiness, like all other forms of intoxication, are apt to befuddle the wits; intense enjoyment of the present always makes one forget the past.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "Beware of Pity", "slug": "beware-of-pity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#Beware_of_Pity_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:29" }, { "id": "7de7622b-0268-4ac2-b94e-f637fd4d6631", "slug": "nothing-could-be-sure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/in-alien-flesh/nothing-could-be-sure", "text": "Nothing could be sure it was itself the original. So the only intelligent course lay in enjoying whatever life a being felt—living like a mortal, in the moment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "In Alien Flesh", "slug": "in-alien-flesh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/in-alien-flesh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 261, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#In_Alien_Flesh_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:21" }, { "id": "87156318-48ed-4773-b00c-28982014a54d", "slug": "remember-today-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie/how-to-stop-worrying-and-start-living/remember-today-is-the", "text": "Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dale Carnegie", "slug": "dale-carnegie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie" }, "book": { "title": "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", "slug": "how-to-stop-worrying-and-start-living", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie/how-to-stop-worrying-and-start-living" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 237, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie#How_to_Stop_Worrying_and_Start_Living_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:09" }, { "id": "f13243fa-675c-43ba-9a28-28ee3de80cbd", "slug": "the-decision-to-make", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/the-decision-to-make", "text": "The decision to make the present moment into your friend is the end of the ego. The ego can never be in alignment with the present moment, which is to say, aligned with life, since its very nature compels it to ignore, resist, or devalue the Now. Time is what the ego lives on. The stronger the ego, the more time takes over your life. Almost every thought you think is then concerned with past or future, and you sense of self depends on the past for your identity and on the future for its fulfillment. Fear, anxiety, expectation, regret, guilt, anger are the dysfunctions of the timebound state of consciousness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "ego", "slug": "ego", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ego" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_New_Earth#Chapter_7,_Finding_out_Who_You_Really_Are", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:04" }, { "id": "8acfc3fb-f8b8-4265-9f9f-65cdec3443df", "slug": "at-worst-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/at-worst-the", "text": "At worst... the present moment is treated as if it were an enemy. When you hate what you are doing, complain about your surroundings, curse things that are happening or have happened, or when your internal dialogue consists of shoulds and shouldn'ts, of blaming and accusing, when you are arguing with what is, arguing with that which is always already the case. you are making Life into an enemy and Life says, “War is what you want, and war is what you get.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "complaining", "slug": "complaining", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/complaining" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_New_Earth#Chapter_7,_Finding_out_Who_You_Really_Are", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:04" }, { "id": "2ad2a97d-1127-46c4-9d4b-1846a59de155", "slug": "some-people-feel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/some-people-feel", "text": "Some people feel more alive when they travel and visit unfamiliar places or foreign countries because at those times sense perception – experiencing – takes up more of their consciousness than thinking. They become more present. Others remain completely possessed by the voice in the head even then. Their perceptions and experiences are distorted by instant judgments. They haven't really gone anywhere. Only their body is traveling, while they remain where they have always been: in their head.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "travel", "slug": "travel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/travel" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_New_Earth#Chapter_8,_The_Discovery_of_Inner_Space", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:04" }, { "id": "fd8f39e3-edbe-4c57-aa88-b824d1b50b85", "slug": "nothing-ever-happened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/nothing-ever-happened", "text": "Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#A_New_Earth_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:01" }, { "id": "9ef0209f-2350-4bb7-a45a-ee4b88b5c14e", "slug": "you-cannot-find", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/you-cannot-find", "text": "You cannot find yourself in the past or future. The only place where you can find yourself is in the Now.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#A_New_Earth_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:01" }, { "id": "82d41ad5-a267-43ec-833c-c7d4f3cc35bf", "slug": "listen-to-peoples", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/listen-to-peoples", "text": "Listen to people's stories and they all could be entitled \"Why I Cannot Be At Peace Now\" The ego doesn't know that your only opportunity for being at peace is now.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "peace of mind", "slug": "peace-of-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace-of-mind" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "ego", "slug": "ego", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ego" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#A_New_Earth_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:01" }, { "id": "d9da5f21-df67-4047-9ffc-d066150182e6", "slug": "the-now-is-inseparable", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/the-now-is-inseparable", "text": "The now is inseparable from who you are at the deepest level.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "b2e0ba81-061c-4370-918f-d7abb9421fa3", "slug": "on-the-surface", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/on-the-surface", "text": "On the surface it seems that the present moment is only one of many, many moments. Each day of your life appears to consist of thousands of moments where different things happen. Yet if you look more deeply, is there not only one moment, ever? Is life ever not this moment? This one moment, now, is the only thing you can never escape from. The one constant factor in your life. No matter what happens. No matter how much your life changes. One thing is certain. Its always now. Since there is no escape from the now, why not welcome it, become friendly with it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "8f19fa87-5667-49f5-b5b6-85f408a4aa04", "slug": "confusion-anger-depression", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/confusion-anger-depression", "text": "Confusion, anger, depression, violence, and conflict arise when humans forget who they are. Yet how easy it is to remember the truth and thus return home: I am not my thoughts, emotions, sense perceptions, and experiences. I am not the content of my life. I am Life. I am the space in which all things happen. I am consciousness. I am the Now. I Am. (Ch 4)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "consciousness", "slug": "consciousness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consciousness" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "82e5186a-769c-4a1c-a2f2-7e0cc9b35568", "slug": "it-has-been", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/it-has-been", "text": "It has been said: wherever you go, there you are. In other words: you are here. Always. Is it so hard to accept that? (Ch 6)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "73a25e5a-88d9-4d58-a560-cb81d7f47ac6", "slug": "we-have-forgotten", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/we-have-forgotten", "text": "We have forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still know. We have forgotten how to be–to be still, to be ourselves, to be where life is: Here and Now. (Ch 7)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "nature", "slug": "nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "5eac0c90-f584-4091-ac96-88979663ee23", "slug": "surrender-is-surrender", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/surrender-is-surrender", "text": "Surrender is surrender to this moment, not to a story through which you interpret this moment and then try to resign yourself to it. … Can you accept the isness of this moment and not confuse it with a story the mind has created around it? (Ch 6)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "34e316cb-2025-4974-acff-e8ee31fdbf01", "slug": "how-often-each", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/how-often-each", "text": "How often each day, if you were to verbalize your inner reality at that moment, would you have to say, “I don't want to be where I am?” What does it feel like when you don't want to be where you are–the traffic jam, your place of work, the airport lounge, the people you are with? (Ch 6)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "17ff943b-2e34-4c90-8ae9-d098fde5e658", "slug": "whenever-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/whenever-you-are", "text": "Whenever you are able, have a “look” inside yourself to see whether you are unconsciously creating conflict between the inner and the outer, between your external circumstances at that moment–where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing–and your thoughts and feelings. Can you feel how painful it is to internally stand in opposition to what is?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:00" }, { "id": "72fc7919-f7b7-42d6-ac7a-a2326738c428", "slug": "a-moment-of-danger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks/a-moment-of-danger", "text": "A moment of danger can bring about a temporary cessation of the stream of thinking and thus give you a taste of what it means to be present, alert, aware. (Ch 2)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Stillness Speaks", "slug": "stillness-speaks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/stillness-speaks" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "consciousness", "slug": "consciousness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consciousness" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Stillness_Speaks_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:59" }, { "id": "36da744c-26bb-46cf-8b95-b07a86747bbc", "slug": "you-aint-gonna", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape/you-aint-gonna", "text": "\"You ain't gonna live forever, so enjoy it while you can.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Fante", "slug": "john-fante", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante" }, "book": { "title": "Brotherhood Of The Grape", "slug": "brotherhood-of-the-grape", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 172, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "pleasure", "slug": "pleasure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pleasure" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fante#The_Brotherhood_of_the_Grape_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:57" }, { "id": "217a9799-3eff-4d31-9701-1883cdb8bc29", "slug": "i-daresay-it-seems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-gaskell/wives-and-daughters/i-daresay-it-seems", "text": "I daresay it seems foolish; perhaps all our earthly trials will appear foolish to us after a while; perhaps they seem so now to angels. But we are ourselves, you know, and this is now, not some time to come, a long, long way off. And we are not angels, to be comforted by seeing the ends for which everything is sent.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Elizabeth Gaskell", "slug": "elizabeth-gaskell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-gaskell" }, "book": { "title": "Wives and Daughters", "slug": "wives-and-daughters", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/elizabeth-gaskell/wives-and-daughters" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gaskell#Wives_and_Daughters", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:22" }, { "id": "ee5eaaca-9c31-40f7-97f9-72c340ce551b", "slug": "i-remember-he-meant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3/i-remember-he-meant", "text": "\"I remember. He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn’t live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place.\" \"He said we had to build something…\" \"That’s why we needed our full life, Pan... we wouldn’t have been able to build it. No one could if they put themselves first. We have to be all those difficult things like cheerful and kind and curious and patient, and we’ve got to study and think and work hard, all of us, in all our different worlds, and then we’ll build…\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials 3", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "3fefcf4b-39b9-4a9e-a7ef-02ef76fad660", "slug": "your-daemon-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3/your-daemon-can", "text": "Your dæmon can only live its full life in the world it was born in. Elsewhere it will eventually sicken and die. We can travel, if there are openings into other worlds, but we can only live in our own. Lord Asriel’s great enterprise will fail in the end for the same reason: we have to build the Republic of Heaven where we are, because for us there is no elsewhere.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials 3", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "9eb21d76-2cec-4a50-99cb-3dbc4199bc49", "slug": "we-are-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/the-rock-that-is-higher/we-are-not", "text": "We are not to retreat from life, pinning our hopes on ‘elsewhere.’ but to know that we will come to that final destination best by living full here and now, be it through joy, or pain, or a mix of both.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "The Rock That Is Higher", "slug": "the-rock-that-is-higher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/the-rock-that-is-higher" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#The_Rock_that_Is_Higher_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:09" }, { "id": "051d6af3-b9bc-4d6f-a322-4103596c67b6", "slug": "and-then-my-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/jane-eyre/and-then-my-mind", "text": "And then my mind made its first earnest effort to comprehend what had been infused into it concerning heaven and hell: and for the first it recoiled baffled; and for the first time glancing behind, on each side, and before it, it saw all round an unfathomed gulf: it felt the one point where it stood — the present; all the rest was formless cloud and vacant depth: and it shuddered at the thought of tottering, and plunging amid that chaos.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "slug": "charlotte-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Jane Eyre", "slug": "jane-eyre", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/jane-eyre" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "hell", "slug": "hell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hell" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB#Jane_Eyre_(1847)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:41" }, { "id": "4a062e97-7e5a-497b-a26d-b9726275e596", "slug": "we-tend-to-be-alive", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/being-peace/we-tend-to-be-alive", "text": "We tend to be alive in the future, not now. We say, \"Wait until I finish school and get my Ph.D. degree, and then I will be really alive.\" When we have it, and it wasn't easy to get, we say to ourselves, \"I have to wait until I have a job in order to be really alive.\" And then after the job, a car. After the car, a house. We are not capable of being alive in the present moment. We tend to postpone being alive to the future, the distant future, we don't know when. Now is not the moment to be alive. We may never be alive at all in our entire life. Therefore, the technique, if we have to speak of a technique, is to be in the present moment, to be aware that we are here and now, and the only moment to be alive is the present moment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thich Nhat Hanh", "slug": "thich-nhat-hanh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh" }, "book": { "title": "Being Peace", "slug": "being-peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thich-nhat-hanh/being-peace" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh#Being_Peace_(1987)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:25" }, { "id": "e13c03e6-4ee1-4c4a-8fd7-257a6eb14f94", "slug": "waste-not-your", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/waste-not-your", "text": "Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit Of This and That endeavour and dispute; Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:00" }, { "id": "dfa7855b-9318-4160-977e-6dc683c76620", "slug": "ah-fill-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/ah-fill-the", "text": "Ah, fill the Cup: — what boots it to repeat How Time is slipping underneath our Feet: Unborn and dead , Why fret about them if be sweet!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:00" }, { "id": "bc539500-b3b4-4cda-81c5-81f63571e605", "slug": "ah-make-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/ah-make-the", "text": "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust Descend; Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie, Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer and — sans End!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:59" }, { "id": "bb284746-e612-4a7e-b221-696302cec458", "slug": "how-sweet-is-mortal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/how-sweet-is-mortal", "text": "\"How sweet is mortal Sovranty!\"—think some: Others — \"How blest the Paradise to come!\" Ah, take the Cash in hand and wave the Rest; Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "paradise", "slug": "paradise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradise" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:59" }, { "id": "acb65797-380b-4e0f-9fa1-dfd32e5efbc5", "slug": "ah-my-beloved", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/ah-my-beloved", "text": "Ah! my Belovéd, fill the Cup that clears To-day of past Regrets and future Fears — To-morrow?—Why, To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:59" }, { "id": "12d7eec2-d2f0-4215-a238-e767b698c968", "slug": "some-for-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/some-for-the", "text": "Some for the Glories of This World; and some Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come; Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go, Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Omar Khayyam", "slug": "omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam" }, "book": { "title": "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", "slug": "rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/omar-khayyam/rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "paradise", "slug": "paradise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradise" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m#FitzGerald,_Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t_of_Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m_(1859,_'68,_'72,_'79,_'89)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:59" }, { "id": "48f0733f-5f0e-4388-ad92-113b341ef207", "slug": "spend-all-your", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/settling-accounts-in-at-the-death/spend-all-your", "text": "Spend all your time thinkin’ ’bout tomorrow, you ain’t gonna live to git there.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "Settling Accounts: In at the Death", "slug": "settling-accounts-in-at-the-death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/settling-accounts-in-at-the-death" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 520, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#Settling_Accounts:_The_Grapple_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:55" }, { "id": "f3563b68-6a6a-41c3-be58-b023461058c2", "slug": "we-must-deal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/how-few-remain/we-must-deal", "text": "We must deal with life as it is, not with life as we wish it were or as it may be ten years or fifty years from now.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "How Few Remain", "slug": "how-few-remain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/how-few-remain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 405, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "reality", "slug": "reality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reality" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#How_Few_Remain_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:47" }, { "id": "6f4c7701-1935-4b7f-87df-f7d4c5956cce", "slug": "there-is-however", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war/there-is-however", "text": "There is, however, no advantage in reflections on the past further than may be of service to the present. For the future we must provide by maintaining what the present gives us and redoubling our efforts; it is hereditary to us to win virtue as the fruit of labour, and you must not change the habit, even though you should have a slight advantage in wealth and resources; for it is not right that what was won in want should be lost in plenty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thucydides", "slug": "thucydides", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides" }, "book": { "title": "History of the Peloponnesian War", "slug": "history-of-the-peloponnesian-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thucydides#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:36" }, { "id": "14904667-a2a6-4bac-999f-db715b610bbe", "slug": "the-instinctive-indian", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor/the-great-indian-novel/the-instinctive-indian", "text": "The instinctive Indian sense that nothing begins and nothing ends. We are all living in an eternal present in which what was and what will be is contained in what is, or to put it in a more contemporary idiom, that life is a series of sequel to history.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Shashi Tharoor", "slug": "shashi-tharoor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor" }, "book": { "title": "The Great Indian Novel", "slug": "the-great-indian-novel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor/the-great-indian-novel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shashi_Tharoor#The_Great_Indian_Novel_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:29" }, { "id": "a81b8434-2c1b-4fc3-893e-43f6ae76379d", "slug": "bofusdiaga-says-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/six-moon-dance/bofusdiaga-says-past", "text": "Bofusdiaga says past wrongs cannot be righted because past wrongs are past and time only runs one way. Bofusdiaga says all you independent creatures suffer great wrongs sometime in past, which is normal, but you stay always living in past so you can continue wronged forever! Forever miserable, forever tragical! Bofusdiaga says so long as you go chewing yesterday’s pains, you cannot eat today’s pleasures, so it is no help!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Six Moon Dance", "slug": "six-moon-dance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/six-moon-dance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 453, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "resentment", "slug": "resentment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/resentment" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Six_Moon_Dance_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:25" }, { "id": "15427199-b4b2-4618-ae23-7c45b2ab14e0", "slug": "as-with-other", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones/as-with-other", "text": "As with other peoples who had focused their lives upon wrongs in the past and heaven in the future, Voorstod made an everlasting hell of the present.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Raising The Stones", "slug": "raising-the-stones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 84, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Raising_the_Stones_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:22" }, { "id": "ce4edfb1-cccc-451b-95da-e56d778e6699", "slug": "live-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/christopher-paolini/eldest/live-in-the", "text": "Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Christopher Paolini", "slug": "christopher-paolini", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/christopher-paolini" }, "book": { "title": "Eldest", "slug": "eldest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/christopher-paolini/eldest" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Paolini#Eldest_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:14" }, { "id": "ce8bbc64-d13f-47a1-afcb-33308c8bd795", "slug": "if-we-spend", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-egan/zendegi/if-we-spend", "text": "If we spend all our time gazing at the wonders ahead without remembering where we're standing right now, we're going to trip and fall flat on our face, over and over again.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Greg Egan", "slug": "greg-egan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-egan" }, "book": { "title": "Zendegi", "slug": "zendegi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-egan/zendegi" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Greg_Egan#Zendegi_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:41" }, { "id": "9ab2abb8-6bc5-4f47-9545-c64911fdf45b", "slug": "in-the-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/reaper-man/in-the-hall", "text": "In the hall of the house of Death is a clock with a pendulum like a blade but with no hands, because in the house of Death there is no time but the present. (There was, of course, a present before the present now, but that was also the present. It was just an older one.) (p. 14)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Reaper Man", "slug": "reaper-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/reaper-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reaper_Man#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:56" }, { "id": "3cf3e972-791e-4081-89fd-1933a214a338", "slug": "billy-licked-his", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five/billy-licked-his", "text": "Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last: \"Why me?\" \"That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?\" \"Yes.\" Billy, in fact, had a paperweight in his office which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs embedded in it. \"Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.\" (pp. 76-77)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Slaughterhouse-Five", "slug": "slaughterhouse-five", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five#Chapter_4", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:45" }, { "id": "3771373b-a1b9-4cee-816f-e7de938ce25d", "slug": "i-asked-myself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five/i-asked-myself", "text": "I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep. (p. 18)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Slaughterhouse-Five", "slug": "slaughterhouse-five", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:44" }, { "id": "ff33a415-8ad3-433c-a84f-8556dd4fca4c", "slug": "past-and-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph/past-and-future", "text": "Past and future exist only in our memory. The present moment, though, is outside of time, it’s Eternity. In India, they use the word ‘karma,’ for lack of any better term. It isn’t what you did in the past that will affect the present. It’s what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "Aleph", "slug": "aleph", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho#Aleph_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:33" }, { "id": "94b713fc-c0fc-42e2-b1bd-3e16ed097525", "slug": "in-magic-and-in-life-there", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph/in-magic-and-in-life-there", "text": "In magic—and in life—there is only the present moment, the now. You can’t measure time the way you measure the distance between two points. “Time” doesn’t pass. We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we’re always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn’t act as we should have. Or else we think about the future, about what we’re going to do tomorrow, what precautions we should take, what dangers await us around the next corner, how to avoid what we don’t want and how to get what we have always dreamed of.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "Aleph", "slug": "aleph", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho#Aleph_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:33" }, { "id": "3e515d6f-6890-4d6e-8495-9add76fcf421", "slug": "we-learn-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph/we-learn-in-the", "text": "We learn in the past, but we are not the result of that. We suffered in the past, loved in the past, cried and laughed in the past, but that’s of no use to the present. The present has its challenges, its good and bad side. We can neither blame nor be grateful to the past for what is happening now. Each new experience of love has nothing whatsoever to do with past experiences. It’s always new.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "Aleph", "slug": "aleph", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the past", "slug": "the-past", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho#Aleph_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:33" }, { "id": "1df88b8b-fee4-48cb-8fd5-ac2141898685", "slug": "you-think-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph/you-think-that", "text": "You think that you exist because you’re unhappy. Other people exist merely as a function of their problems and spend all their time talking compulsively about their children, their wives and husbands, school, work, friends. They never stop to think: I’m here. I am the result of everything that happened and will happen, but I’m here. If I did something wrong, I can put it right or at least ask forgiveness. If I did something right, that leaves me happier and more connected with the now”.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "Aleph", "slug": "aleph", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "self-knowledge", "slug": "self-knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho#Aleph_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:33" }, { "id": "734769b9-cf7d-4ff3-acc5-92d8a3a85d4f", "slug": "each-day-in-itself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist/each-day-in-itself", "text": "Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "The Alchemist", "slug": "the-alchemist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" }, { "name": "eternity", "slug": "eternity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/eternity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Alchemist_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:32" } ] }