--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future will be like the past, in the…" description: "\"The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human rhythm of pet..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg" --- # The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no… ![“The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human rhythm of petty malevolence, sordid moneygrubbing, and official violence, illuminated by occasional bursts of loyalty or desire or tenderness, will go on.” quote by Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg) > “The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human rhythm of petty malevolence, sordid moneygrubbing, and official violence, illuminated by occasional bursts of loyalty or desire or tenderness, will go on.” [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Despite technological progress, core human flaws—greed, cruelty, and occasional kindness—persist unchanged. **In simple terms:** Technology changes, but human nature stays the same. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy to counteract inherent flaws. Themes human nature technology morality history society Mood cautious hopeful Type analytical observational When to use this quote - politics - business ethics - education - media - community relations Key Concepts greed violence loyalty compassion social cycles Questions to Reflect On - What modern tools can mitigate old vices? - How can societies nurture lasting compassion? A Different Perspective Optimism may overlook systemic issues needing reform. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Malevolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malevolence/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Rhythm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhythm/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [“The future is much like the past; it is mostly set, but can always be altered—”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-garber/the-future-is-much-like-the-past-it-is-mostly-set-but-can-always-be/) [Stephanie Garber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-garber/) > [“But for now, the future, like the past, means nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/but-for-now-the-future-like-the-past-means-nothing/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [But for now, the future, like the past, means nothing. For now, there is only a homestead built of trash and scraps, at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/but-for-now-the-future-like-the-past-means-nothing-for-now-there-is/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“as much as I like the past not to excist but it still does”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-lee/as-much-as-i-like-the-past-not-to-excist-but-it-still-does/) [Amy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-lee/) > [I always feel like the past informs my present musically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flying-lotus/i-always-feel-like-the-past-informs-my-present-musically/) [Flying Lotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flying-lotus/) > [I'm not a tart. I feel like I've been treated like one in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-atack/i-m-not-a-tart-i-feel-like-i-ve-been-treated-like-one-in-the-past/) [Emily Atack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-atack/) > [It is hard to say what the future holds, but this is probable - it won't be just like the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/it-is-hard-to-say-what-the-future-holds-but-this-is-probable-it-won-t/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [If you do not like the past, change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-do-not-like-the-past-change-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a funny way, I like the past, I'm a very nostalgic person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-fanning/in-a-funny-way-i-like-the-past-i-m-a-very-nostalgic-person/) [Elle Fanning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-fanning/) > [“Where you come from, what you look like, and what your past holds do not define you as an individual--you are what you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-von-d/where-you-come-from-what-you-look-like-and-what-your-past-holds-do/) [Kat Von D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-von-d/) > [You can't run from feelings, Charity. You have to face them. Otherwise your future will look just like your past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jane-howard/you-can-t-run-from-feelings-charity-you-have-to-face-them-otherwise/) [Elizabeth Jane Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jane-howard/) > [If possible I'd like to be always in the past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-possible-i-d-like-to-be-always-in-the-past/) Mak\_786 > [Some will say I don't sound like past mayors or look like them or think like them, and I say yes, I don't -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-wiley/some-will-say-i-don-t-sound-like-past-mayors-or-look-like-them-or/) [Maya Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-wiley/) > [The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-future-according-to-some-scientists-will-be-exactly-like-the-past/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When you meet the right person, it’s like nothing else—nobody else. No one in your past ever mattered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-de-la-cruz/when-you-meet-the-right-person-it-s-like-nothing-else-nobody-else-no/) [Melissa de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-de-la-cruz/) ## More by Adam Gopnik > [ Often the block \[in writing\] comes from the wall of words that keep out the simplicity of sense. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/often-the-block-in-writing-comes-from-the-wall-of-words-that-keep-out/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Drawing is one of those things which sit on the uneasy bending line between instinct and instruction, where seeming perversity eventually trumps pleasure as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/drawing-is-one-of-those-things-which-sit-on-the-uneasy-bending-line/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/of-all-the-unexpected-things-in-contemporary-literature-this-is-among/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“...we see life as deeply in our pleasures as in our pains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/we-see-life-as-deeply-in-our-pleasures-as-in-our-pains/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ Leafing through Forbes or Fortune \[magazine\]s is like reading the operating manual of a strangely sanctimonious pirate ship ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/leafing-through-forbes-or-fortune-magazine-s-is-like-reading-the/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing well isn't just a question of winsome expression, but of having found something big and true to say and having found the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-well-isn-t-just-a-question-of-winsome-expression-but-of/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“There is, I believe now, a force in stories, words in motion, that either drives them forward past things into feelings or doesn't. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/there-is-i-believe-now-a-force-in-stories-words-in-motion-that-either/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Cooking is the showy side of domesticity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/cooking-is-the-showy-side-of-domesticity/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing doesn't come easily to anyone, I think, certainly not to me. But pressure and practice does lend a certain fluency, I think -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-doesn-t-come-easily-to-anyone-i-think-certainly-not-to-me-but/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Art without accomplishment becomes a form of faith, sustained more by the intensity of its common practice than by the pleasure it gives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/art-without-accomplishment-becomes-a-form-of-faith-sustained-more-by/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ “\[A\]s military history reveals, a bad plan is often better than no plan, especially if the people on the other side think it’s a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/a-s-military-history-reveals-a-bad-plan-is-often-better-than-no-plan/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [I don't think there's any question journalists have become targets, but then I think that - that anyone who tries to practice liberty becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-question-journalists-have-become-targets/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [After all, spinning is its own reward. There wouldn't be carousels if it weren't so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/after-all-spinning-is-its-own-reward-there-wouldn-t-be-carousels-if/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“This is surely the most significant of the elements that Tolkien brought to fantasy… his arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and "The Wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/this-is-surely-the-most-significant-of-the-elements-that-tolkien/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“Can't repeat the past? We do it every day. We build a life, or try to, of pleasures and duties that will become routine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/can-t-repeat-the-past-we-do-it-every-day-we-build-a-life-or-try-to-of/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) [Explore all 97 Adam Gopnik quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human rhythm of petty malevolence, sordid moneygrubbing, and official violence, illuminated by occasional bursts of loyalty or desire or tenderness, will go on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Gopnik" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/adam-gopnik-6789_desire_the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the_547860.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a…” — Adam Gopnik", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Gopnik", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The future will be like the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```