Quotes about Past

The truth is that God could have forgiven my past and given me assurance of heaven and yet kept me at arm's length. He could have made me a mere servant in his kingdom household — and even that would have been more than I merited. But his grace is far more outrageous than that.

wants to redeem, restore, and change your identity so that there is no incident, season, or name from your past left to define you.

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

I know what's in my future is greater than what's in my past so I am pressing forward in life.

The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts' and the 'ifs.' They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the here and now.

All tradition is merely the past.

I wouldn't ask too much of her,' I ventured. 'You can't repeat the past.' 'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!' He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.

No amount of fre or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

Typically, the louder a voice gets, the bigger the knot in my gut grows. So I have to turn my heart and mind toward our Heavenly Father and ask, "Is this pit in my stomach about today or is it about what already happened in the past or about what I'm afraid might happen in the future?

History provides a great example but a terrible excuse.

Although I am no longer caught in the past, the future seems like a ridiculous thing to me. Try to catch it, hold it in your hand. It disappears every time.

In my memories I have set my life in Brooklyn between pieces of glass, separate from my current existence, and this has enabled me to move forward. The past cannot tie me in knots, nor can it cause me to drown. And yet what is stored in glass belongs to me still. Each piece is a part of me: the hummingbirds, the locked doors, Mr. Morris in the yard, the pear tree, the woman covered by bees, and you. Especially you.