If there were a clear prospect that such evils were part of a barbarian past, then at least we might find a small crumb of comfort. No such prospect exists: no scientific analysis can even remotely answer or account for past and present horrors of human behaviour.
quote by Simon Conway Morris

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Related quotes

Nothing discernable to the eye of the spirit is more brilliant or obscure than man; nothing is more formidible, complex, mysterious, and infinite. There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul.
Victor Hugo in Les Miserables

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I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.
quote by George Washington

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Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but present evils triumph over it.
quote by La Rochefoucauld

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The Cold Effect
Snow falling
Sounds sounding
Moments travelling
Back from the past
Now your present
Or so you wish.
Secrets whispering
In your ear
Luring you in
Luring you back
Making you wish
Your present is past
Your past is present.
Snow falling
An effect of the cold
The cold effect
Affecting you
And your world.
It traps you
To stay warm
To find comfort
From the cups of tea
Mugs of hot chocolate
To guard you
To keep you.
poem by Thamer Mager

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Past paved way for the future
Past paved way
For the present
Shall become past
To pave way for future
The cycle never stops
Present always
Compared to past
A better future
Wished by all
What will come?
Nobody knows
Hope and desire
Never ends
Brings light in eyes
And smile on face
Light or darkness?
Is a question
Answer to which
Nobody knows
One thing is certain
If one lives
Shall become old
Perish with time
Become memory
Of the past
poem by Nirantar Dr.Rajendra Tela

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A glorious past
Past is always glorious
by that only you have become known or famous
that must remain on or continuous
the reason may be many or various
you can't go by the past
though it might have ended fast
the present may still be eluded
if past is not at all included
you love the present and think of future
the thing which is not there for sure
Think of the past with little from present
you won't feel future too absent
don't read much about anything
you will have to prove for everything
you can't trust the present trend
you may plan accordingly with some mends
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal

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Dimension Merge
For us the past has gone and the present moves on
into the yesterday of a future’s present time.
Despite living in the future’s past this will not last,
present and future will very soon combine.
Future or dimension, to some a misapprehension,
but they are one in the same.
If there’s more than one, they will follow on
to leave one, with it’s present name.
On merging we’ll realise we’ve no future to recognise,
and the past and present is all we’ll know.
The past will still be renewed, with each day used,
but the future will mean only tomorrow.
poem by Orlando Belo

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Languid, And Sad, And Slow, From Day To Day
Languid, and sad, and slow, from day to day
I journey on, yet pensive turn to view
(Where the rich landscape gleams with softer hue)
The streams and vales, and hills, that steal away.
So fares it with the children of the earth:
For when life's goodly prospect opens round,
Their spirits beat to tread that fairy ground,
Where every vale sounds to the pipe of mirth.
But them vain hope and easy youth beguiles,
And soon a longing look, like me, they cast
Back on the pleasing prospect of the past:
Yet Fancy points where still far onward smiles
Some sunny spot, and her fair colouring blends,
Till cheerless on their path the night descends!
poem by William Lisle Bowles

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Sonnet: Languid, And Sad, And Slow, From Day To Day
Languid, and sad, and slow, from day to day
I journey on, yet pensive turn to view
(Where the rich landscape gleams with softer hue)
The streams and vales, and hills, that steal away.
So fares it with the children of the earth:
For when life's goodly prospect opens round,
Their spirits beat to tread that fairy ground,
Where every vale sounds to the pipe of mirth.
But them vain hope and easy youth beguiles,
And soon a longing look, like me, they cast
Back on the pleasing prospect of the past:
Yet Fancy points where still far onward smiles
Some sunny spot, and her fair colouring blends,
Till cheerless on their path the night descends!
poem by William Lisle Bowles

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On Entering Switzerland
Languid, and sad, and slow, from day to day
I journey on, yet pensive turn to view
(Where the rich landscape gleams with softer hue)
The streams and vales, and hills, that steal away.
So fares it with the children of the earth:
For when life's goodly prospect opens round,
Their spirits beat to tread that fairy ground,
Where every vale sounds to the pipe of mirth.
But them vain hope and easy youth beguiles,
And soon a longing look, like me, they cast
Back on the pleasing prospect of the past:
Yet Fancy points where still far onward smiles
Some sunny spot, and her fair colouring blends,
Till cheerless on their path the night descends!
poem by William Lisle Bowles

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Conscience Speaks
Sun is bright in the sky,
The old man walks and sighs.
He walks up the lane, stops and looks for a shade
Stops and takes a cold breadth;
My heart shakes, emotions pour through the eyes:
Why is it so?
Stress should I put on heart or brain.
My body shivers, eyes add to the fuel.
He comes to know of my stress.
Future Past or Present is it;
Ambiguity throws a coat.
FUTURE- Negative capability is the answer
Future and past go hand in hand,
Sins of past drowising in my heart,
Bring the fear of Future.
PRESENT- What is now is because of past,
What will come, a product of present.
Present, past and future housed both in heart and brain.
poem by Sanjay Mehta

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Past
Past is past.
It never comes.
It helps us something to learn.
Past lives may hurt us.
But It never ruins us.
Don't fight the past.
Let it go, always be simple, always be inspired.
There is no point going with the past.
There is the point going with present.
Past determines nothing.
Present determines something.
poem by Yash Pradhan

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The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this; What is the use of climbing Mount Everest? and my answer must at once be, it is no use. There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever.
quote by George Leigh Mallory

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0984..... LIVE in the PRESENT
Past and Future Are Mental Constructs
LIVING in the NOW is MEDITATION
THE POWER is always in THE “NOW”
MOST DIFFICULT is to LIVE IN THE PRESENT
Mind likes illusions for Living in Past and Future is Illusion
TVs, Cinemas, Day Dreaming push you out of NOW
Boozing, Drugging, Philandering kick you out of NOW
Learn to live in THE NOW, For NOW only is REAL.
Our Mind is Always Caught up in PAST or FUTURE
Living in the PRESENT is CONQUERING the SELF
“Now” is only REAL for 'Now' only EXISTS
Alas! Many Poets always Live in PAST or FUTURE!
(25-April-2010, Chennai)
poem by Gan Chennai

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What If
Such a tiny word, that word if, helps to ignore the present gift,
God’s gift to us of life today, when we put the past in the way,
Today’s a gift to all of us, from the Author of life Christ Jesus,
Yesterday’s past is already gone, and He’d like us to carry on.
What if, only moves us to cast, present thoughts into the past,
Tainting concerns now at hand, with those we can’t understand,
It may even cause us to resent, past issues, in view of present,
What God wants left behind, to give us present peace of mind.
We cannot physically, go back, to alter what we presently lack,
For with the past said and done, we have a present race to run.
Old issues we should not spurn, using all them instead to learn,
As we go forward in this life, following the lead of Jesus Christ.
Allow His Spirit only to retrace, those past issues by His Grace,
As Christ helps you not to repeat, what was in your past defeat.
Christ, has a plan for all of us, and in Him we must simply trust,
And God’s plan for you and me, is not more defeat, but victory.
Believers, God will not forsake, regardless of any past mistake,
God wants us to move ahead, not be filled with regret or dread,
As God takes us by the hand, past issues we can’t understand,
Avoiding that small word if, to focus on Christ our greatest gift.
(Copyright ©07/2009)
Mortals In Fear
What is it that brings us here
into this place of chaos and fear?
Is it because of what we lack
that always seems to bring us back?
Oh that heaven were a permanent place,
one where we'd never have to face
the prospect of losing all we had,
the prospect of never being sad.
But only souls who've learned it all
can remain in Eden and never fall.
For the soul's insatiable in its quest
to travel with us as we pass each test.
The test is to even up the score
in everything we've failed before.
And so we find ourselves again
trying to get it right and then
Ascend into the knowledge of light
with peace and love and everything right.
For then mere mortals we won't be.
We'll be co-creators eventually
and finally say 'AMEN.'
poem by Edwina Reizer

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Guided only by their feeling for symmetry, simplicity, and generality, and an indefinable sense of the fitness of things, creative mathematicians now, as in the past, are inspired by the art of mathematics rather than by any prospect of ultimate usefulness.
Before Our Weakness Gets To Strong
What are we doing in this place alone is our desire to relive our past this strong
True love we knew in the past is gone but our weakness lingers on
Let's go home before our weakness gets too strong
Long ago we let the flame of love burn out of control
Now we have no reason to reach for love that has grown cold
If we live our past in the present our future will be gone
Let's go home before our weakness gets too strong
[ fiddle ]
Line with temptation we raced into the past
On a road too small to let the past and the present pass
Are we going too fast to turn back and leave the past alone
Let's go home before our weakness gets too strong
Long ago we let the flame...
Let's go home before our weakness gets too strong
song performed by by Dolly Parton

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From The Series 'Moon Rivers
An evening spent with the children of the children of the holocaust
Different lives
Different strives
To be something, someone
In relation to all that is gone
In the past long ago and long since hence
We are still bound by the energies the mysteries we can only partially glimpse at through Ancestors eyes
And try to surmise our own meaning and existence
Make some sense of it all
The call
Of genetics and emotional heritage
This is us we are they and they are them
And between us all is a thread that links the whole chain,
From me to you and back again
The underlying synchronicity and wisdom of it all
This life inextricably linked to all others
The magic of how I met you and you met me
And how we came to be this three
Sitting here sipping champagne
Pondering past and present both
I feel the magic in the air as things fall into place
Crumb by crumb weaving their way into rainbow psychedelic patterns that all make Sense… at least to me
Alone in my tree
Of wisdom and sin
I ate the apple you see
I wanted to know more
Killed the cat for sure
And now here is me, alone again, typing words
As another new moon is born
Fingernail thin floating above western roofs
A new phase for planets and all has begun
Rebirth and renew let past moons be gone forever, forgotten in memories bliss
From now let it just be,
let my heart find its peace
In all that once was
And all that will come to be.
poem by Petra Creffield

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It has been popular to threaten ""small islands and low-lying coasts"" with scenarios of disastrous future flooding. The Maldives has been the most utilised target. We have undertaken a careful analysis of actual sea level changes in the Maldives. No rise has been recorded either in the present or the past centuries.
quote by Nils-Axel Morner

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