There’s no past tense when you lose someone, Jed. You just…

With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear.

— Yo-Yo Ma

My last defense / Is the present tense.

— Gwendolyn Brooks

Tea is soothing. I wish to be tense.

— Rupert Giles

“That’s probably the worst thing about death. Is turns into was. Everything that was once present tense is now in the past.”

— Caleb Reese

I'm a very anxious, nervy kind of loser in many ways, and I get very stressed and a little tense.

— Ed Weeks

Cat cleared her throat in the tense silence that followed. “Uh, before this goes any further, let’s at least introduce ourselves to your friend.…

— Jeaniene Frost

The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind…

— Ben Aaronovitch

Where will you be when they tense for warfare? What will you see with your innocence there? Where will you be my darling?

— Cradle Of Filth

“Her face was calm, but inside she was tense.”

— Jeffrey Eugenides

“But here it is. So pick the bones from that. 'I think we need another tense for dreaming in,' I said, which made an…

— Sean O'Brien

Until I saw my drawings replayed on the iPad, I'd never seen myself draw. Someone watching me would be concentrating on the exact moment,…

— David Hockney

“The past tense of regret is indecision.”

— Welcome to Nightvale Podcast

Being nervous actually kept me very tense.

— Kate Bush

He doesn’t scowl, but his mouth is so tense that I know he’s angry with me. 'Don’t be an idiot,' he says. 'An idiot?'…

— Veronica Roth

“He knew that he was caught up in one of those stretches of time when for anything to happen normally would be abnormal. The…

— Mervyn Peake