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Why is it that so many (particularly my age group) live in the past and their conversations, music and interests are all in the past, like they have no present or future. We all reminisce and have good as well as bad memories of the past but it seems unhealthy to me to continually live in the past. There are new things to learn, challanges to be met, new ideas to share. For me, I am interested in the present and future because that is where the rest of my life is being and will be spent.

I can't answer for others, just for myself. I enjoy learning something new and seeing what a new day can bring. But I also enjoy the memories of my past, as a child and as a young woman. That does not mean I want to re-live the experiences.

There are many quotes about the past. Pick one.

One reason God created time was so that there would be a place to bury the failures of the past.

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

May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future.

The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.

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

Genealogists live in the past lane.

I like men who have a future and women who have a past.

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

One must always maintain one’s connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.

You can’t change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future.

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

Every past is worth condemning.

If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.

Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter.

The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.

Always choose the future over the past. What do we do now ?

I don’t think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.

There is a way to look at the past. Don’t hide from it. It will not catch you–if you don’t repeat it.

If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.

No hand can make the clock strike for me the hours that are passed.

To what a degree the same past can leave different marks-and especially admit of different interpretations.

We cannot let the past cloud our perception of the future.

I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.

The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character.

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

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

I think that we honor ourselves by honoring our past.

The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.

It’s in vain, Trot, to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present.

One’s past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged.



The past is only the future with the lights on.

The past is the influence of the present.

Never regret–

If it’s good, it’s wonderful.

If it’s bad, it’s experience.

If you have enough past you realize, nothing is really "new".

I work with old people and one of them was talking to me about this last week. Ann is 84 and she said.

'when you are young you plan ahead, marriage ,children , home , career but as you get older the 'future' becomes a short term thing, you stop planning and get on with doing as much as you can because your future is very limited.

The temptation to live in the past is great because its familiar like a pair of comfy slippers you knew where you were and were sure of things then.

as you get older everything becomes past tense (she said) I was a teacher , I was married, I was mother of two children, I was a keen sportswoman, I liked to travel.

Its all past tense... the career has ended, the people you know and love die off one by one, you become physically less able and the hobbies you once had are no longer possible.

So you sit back, reflect take stock and weigh up what it was you did with your life.

The best you can hope for is that you are not too disappointed with the result'

Victoria;1217292 wrote: I work with old people and one of them was talking to me about this last week. Ann is 84 and she said.



'when you are young you plan ahead, marriage ,children , home , career but as you get older the 'future' becomes a short term thing, you stop planning and get on with doing as much as you can because your future is very limited.



The temptation to live in the past is great because its familiar like a pair of comfy slippers you knew where you were and were sure of things then.

as you get older everything becomes past tense (she said) I was a teacher , I was married, I was mother of two children, I was a keen sportswoman, I liked to travel.

Its all past tense... the career has ended, the people you know and love die off one by one, you become physically less able and the hobbies you once had are no longer possible.

So you sit back, reflect take stock and weigh up what it was you did with your life.

The best you can hope for is that you are not too disappointed with the result'
So very true, words of wisdom!

Some of the past contains fond memories and fun times....specially if you were a teenager in the 60s



I've worked with young people, have 3 kids in their 40s and 9 grandchildren from 18yrs to 2 weeks......it's the future for me.



I really get frustrated when people talk about the so called 'good old days'...... I look on them fondly but would hate to go back to coal fires, no washing machine etc.

perhaps it is because it is comfortable? I say from my point of view and experience with my father who "lives in the past" it's because his current and future are rather flat.... he has nothing new to talk about so he hangs out in the past.

Myself (no I am not Lons age but am of the "older sect") I love the now and the whats ahead, from work, education, music, entertainment. I just think learning more and more keeps us young.