The way to see what looks good and understand the reasons it looks good, and to be at one with this goodness as the work proceeds, is to cultivate an inner quietness, a peace of mind so that goodness can shine through.
Robert M. PirsigRead
Who really can face the future? All you can do is project from the past, even when the past shows that such projections are often wrong. And who really can forget the past? What else is there to know?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the difficulty of predicting the future based on past experiences and the inescapable nature of our memories.
Robert M. Pirsig's quote delves into the intricate relationship between our past experiences and our ability to anticipate the future. It suggests that while we often rely on our past to guide our projections about what lies ahead, this method is flawed, as our histories can be misleading. The idea that we cannot truly escape our past adds another layer, highlighting how our memories shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Themes
FuturePastProjectionsMemoryExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal growth and overcoming past failures.
More from Robert M. Pirsig
All quotes →When analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process.
Robert M. PirsigRead
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
Robert M. PirsigRead
It's better not to see than to see wrongly.
Robert M. PirsigRead
The truth knocks on the door and you say, go away, I'm looking for the truth, and it goes away. Puzzling.
Robert M. PirsigRead
You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.
Robert M. PirsigRead
Similar quotes
Size is not a reality, but a construct of the mind; and space a construct to contain constructs.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
Idealism, alas, does not protect one from ignorance, dogmatism, and foolishness.
Sidney HookRead
It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.
Emile M. CioranRead
Even if you tell yourself "Today I'm going to drink coffee the wrong way ... from a dirty boot." Even that would be right, because you chose to drink coffee from that boot. Because you can do nothing wrong. You are always right. Even when you say, "I'm such an idiot, I'm so wrong..." you're right. You're right about being wrong. You're right even when you're an idiot. No matter how stupid your idea, you're doomed to be right because it's yours.
Chuck PalahniukRead
When most people said "I'm psychic, you see," they meant "I have an overactive but unoriginal imagination/wear black nail varnish/talk to my budgie;" when Anathema said it, it sounded as though she was admitting to a hereditary disease which she'd much prefer not to have.
Neil GaimanRead
The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.
Benjamin DisraeliRead