If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.
quote by John Acton

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes

You live in the present and you eliminate things that don't matter. You don't carry the burden of the past. I'm not impressed by the past very much. The past bores me, to tell you the truth; it really bores me. I don't remember many movies and certainly not my own.
quote by Paulette Goddard

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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I Don't Know Where The Past Is Gone
I don’t know where the past is gone
I only know most of my own life is over-
I don’t know where the past has gone
I only know so many people I loved
Are no longer here and will never be here again-
I don’t know where the past has gone
I only know that that chance I had that hope for so many years
Can never be mine in the same way again-
I don’t know where the past has gone
So many moments of beauty and love and opportunity missed and longing unrealized-
I don’t know where the past has gone
And what of it I should miss
And why I should long for it so.
I don’t know where the past has gone
And where my life was lost and why I did not do better in it-
I don’t know where the past has gone
And what will be when for me
Everything is only the Past gone
poem by Shalom Freedman

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We have a maxim in the House of Commons, and written on the walls of our houses, that old ways are the safest and surest ways.
quote by Edward Coke

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Truism Sonnet
Truisms become truth, as justice become adjudication;
Knowledge becomes reality, and reality, life's education!
My heart has stopped beating since 2007, that Veteran's Day;
Ached has it since, more than I could ever say!
Our life together, so amazing, so true;
Our family, together, so beauteous and new;
Though, KMKG is what we may be proclaimed:
Kristina, Maurice, Kalina and Gabriella, who we are, in name!
What is past is prologue, or so it may be said;
What is past affects us, until are days are dead;
What is past never ceases, nor leaves us alone;
What is past ne'er halts, until we have truly grown!
Whensover my love, you allow past to leave us-
Then only my beloved, will you truly see us!
Maurice Harris,8 December 2007
poem by Maurice Harris

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Time and Experience
I found the past in my present
I built the future on my past
I found the gift of today
When I thought about what
The future has to offer
Where is the wisdom in experience
If there is no folly in wisdom
What's the real meaning of death
If our spirits live forever
Times never change
But circumstances do
I'll let mystery play with the future
Surprises couple with the present
And experience mourn the past
Because sun always rises from the east
And each day always comes to an end
Experience is not chained to wisdom
Nor is folly tied to bad results
But to the circumstances that burden
Our past, present and future because
Time is always anxious for the future
Experience loves the present
And wisdom never divorces the past
poem by Benaiah Sondashi

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Emancipation
Ever since I was a little baby
I had 2 have double everything
When they tell me thats enough
Thats when I wanna fill my cup
2 the top, johnny, hear me sing
Chorus:
Emancipation - free 2 do what I wanna
Emancipation - see u in the purple rain
Emancipation - free 2 do what I wanna
Emancipation - break the chain, break the chain
Ever since that eve did unto adam, alright
What somebody been shonuff doin 2 me (watch it!)
Ive been tryin 2 break the chain
Get my little ass out the game
Id rather sing with a bit more harmony, oh
Chorus
Johnny please, huh, when I was on my knees
My back was broken and my spirit ill at ease
And now it seems just like the autumn leaves
Your moneys turned from green 2 brown and now u best believe
Chorus
(emancipation) {repeat in bg}
Break the chain, oh yeah
Well, shonuff
See u in the purple rain
Emancipation - free 2 do what I wanna
Break the.. break the.. break the chain!
Hey!
Alright!
Hey! {x4}
Emancipation
Free - dont think I aint!
Emancipation
song performed by by Prince

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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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 only use of a knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present. The present contains all that there is. It is holy ground; for it is the past, and it is the future.
quote by Alfred North Whitehead

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Utopia Is Potential Golden Age Possibilities
the past is actions immutable
is set framed in sunsets past
the past is resource slave exploitation
power empires conquest civilizations
the present is possibilities changeable
choices made rites of change ideals last
the present is spun combinations decisions
choices affirmations goals chosen upheld
to liberate or deceive emphasize or believe
utopia is potential golden age possibilities
choice is universal peace harmony achieved
humanities destiny realize fulfil create believe
utopia is potential golden age race greed rejected
embracing global emancipation policy accepted
poem by Terence George Craddock

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Breath by Breath
Our moments are precious and
Our time is now.
Use it wisely and use it well!
There is no connecting the past
And future. The presence is the
in-between and only lasts but
Less than a breath.
The presence is so fast,
a blink of an eye and it is the past!
Then are we really living our future with
each inhale and our past goes out
with each exhale?
Are is it really just a pretence of presence?
Future - Past,
Future - Past,
Future - Past!
poem by JDarrell Kirkley

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My Past
I can never let go of my past because my past has marked me
Every time I look down
Every time I look over
There is my past
The notches
The bold the non-mistakable scars
…the scars
My past
Each and every one has a story
Each and every one has a memory
Each and every one has brought tears to my eyes
For no story nor memory are of happiness, triumph, or glory
No, they are of fear, anxiety, self-hatred, paranoia, and loneliness
I can never let go of my past because my past will always be part of me
poem by Scarlet Mo Chroi

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The Path Of Time
Whether of present or past
Or future if you please
The time that you portray
Moves only for yourself
Some choose to live in the past
Lost hopes and dreams they share
But time only last
Until they release the burden they bear
Some choose to live in the present
And behold the sights of each day
A balance of decisions for 10 second frames
And everything always seems fair
Some people look towards the future
To see long term effects unfold
However long it takes to get there
They keep persisting towards their goal
I chose to live in the present
Ignore the past and future presence
And live life like I will not see the next day
And still not have to care
But if I provide an example
For past, present, or future
My path is still my own
And moves only for myself
poem by Logan Fulk

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Break free
Will I break free from my past?
Or will I let the chains tie me down?
For I have been confided in a small room for hours trying to break free from this obstacle.
My mind is stuck, but my heart is trying to break free.
The bars are too small and I cannot break through to the other side.
For the other side is where I want to be.
Where I can be free from my past and not be weighed down by negativity.
But now I realize I can slowly break free by saying this statement: I am beautiful just the way I am and don't need to change for anyone.
poem by Christina J. Williams

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Gone
Everything of the past is a memory gone
Remembering my past will only be a sign of weakness
Now life is so cruel, that the past has left no meaning
I am very alone and that is how I have to live my future life.
Anything which reminds me of my past, is to be stayed away from
That is the best and the only way to survive.
If I said I still do love you
Then it would be a big lie now
Since, now the love which I had for you has actually turned into hate
Earlier I loved you a lot and very truly
Now I do not love you
As a matter of fact, the hate is so much that the pain of the past is like a volcano
Which will just blast, if I ever again came close to you
Stay away my past, you are my memory, which is gone.
poem by Rohit Sapra

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A Dark Past
My past is dark
It's full of pain and tears
My past is my story
My past made me stronger
People still don't know why my past is dark
But I will tell you
No more hiding for me
My past is red stained razors
I admit I did cut
But, I will no more
My closest friend was the only one that knew
Me and her alike in so many ways
We helped each other through thick and thin
My future is bright and happy
I am loved and always will be loved
In my future I will not shed a tear
For I will be surrounded by loved ones
My past is erased I have no regrets
My life is better oh..so much better
poem by Jasmine Kayleen

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Where Do I Come From?
Where do I come from? I do not know,
For it was taken away before I could see. What
is my name? I do not know, because it was taken
away from me before I was born. Who am I? I will never know, for the
culture of who I am and would have been, was
stripped away from lack of understanding. What is my past?
The knowledge to know that people, doing the hating
and despising are the very same people that share
my family roots. Who am I? This I do know a person that
will never have knowledge, of what it would be
like to have a culture and a country, a past with
a positive history! Where do I go? I do not know, for there
is far more prejudice than ever against a people,
with no country and no culture, stuck in the middle
of a melting pot society. What do I do? All I can do is hope,
hope that one day, it won't matter what color
you are, and it won't matter where you come from.
It doesn't matter what you look like, that people
wake up and accept a person by how one is treated. What is my future?
To pass this knowledge to my children, for it
is the only thing left, that was not taken from me.
And it is the only thing of value in this life
I can give, this gift to my child.
poem by Be' Ver Lee Houston

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Toilet
Squatting on the commode
Straighten the past
Forgetting excretion
Time is on the loose
Creates freedom
Burden exits from down
Imaginary burden flies into head
Unsolved sentiments flow in the water
Breaks freedom
poem by Udaya R. Tennakoon

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The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future.
Stephen Ambrose in in Fast Company

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Knowledge
What happens to our knowledge
when we pass from here?
Will it be buried with us
for an eternity to be undisturbed,
or do we leave tracks
of our knowledge behind?
Great minds have already written down
things they did not want to forget.
Is it possible that great knowledge
is gathering dust somewhere
in those forgotten chapters
of our history?
Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings
of airplanes and submarines.
Were they just fanciful dreams,
or were they reality?
Could these things have existed,
but of their presence in history
this knowledge for them departed?
What about Atlantis
with its knowledge unbound.
Did it really disappear
beneath the waves without a sound,
and the knowledge that they held,
did that all vanish with them?
We can only speculate
where all this knowledge goes
as new minds dream of things
that may have existed in the past.
Which leaves us with the question,
what happens to our knowledge
when we pass away from here?
4 September 2008
poem by David Harris

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The Last Dance With Past
Destroyed and alone i walk to you my past
With opened arms i run to you my past
I knock the doors of distances
There behind them painful memories lies
May can i catch the last chance
To hug the memories of the past
And make with them my last dance
For the last time to try
To arouse the misty pity
And the constancy of the past
To revive the inscrutable pain of the past
May for last time i can remove that insensible gauzy veil
That lies there like an insect between and around
the misty pity of the past
poem by Sossi Khachadourian

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