--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The ego romanticizes the past to avoid…" description: "\"“The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of the present.”\" — Alan Cohen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png" --- # The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of… ![“The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of the present.” quote by Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png) > ““The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of the present.”” [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ego clings to nostalgic romance, preventing authentic love for the present moment. **In simple terms:** Ego romanticizes past, blocks present love. Key Takeaway Live in the now. Themes ego nostalgia presence Mood thoughtful peaceful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - mindful meditation - daily gratitude Key Concepts psychology mindfulness authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What does the present offer you? - How can you honor the past without escaping now? A Different Perspective Nostalgia can be comforting; balancing memory and present is tricky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Ego Romanticizes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego-romanticizes-3544093/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Romance Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance-present-3544094/) [Romanticizes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticizes-1758076/) [Romanticizes Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticizes-past-1157767/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [True romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-romance/) ## Related quotes > [It is hard to find romance in the present because there's nothing left to the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/it-is-hard-to-find-romance-in-the-present-because-there-s-nothing/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“There are days when my imagination in my enemy. It likes to keep me company in my darkest of times and romanticizes a past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/there-are-days-when-my-imagination-in-my-enemy-it-likes-to-keep-me/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [I'm not a person who romanticizes what being an actor should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-butler-harner/i-m-not-a-person-who-romanticizes-what-being-an-actor-should-be/) [Jason Butler Harner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-butler-harner/) > [Everyone romanticizes somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/everyone-romanticizes-somebody/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) > [Memory inevitably romanticizes, pressing reality to recede like pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/memory-inevitably-romanticizes-pressing-reality-to-recede-like-pain/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [I have done love stories; they've just been in my other movies. True Romance's title was not ironic. Sure, James Gandolfini almost beats Patricia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/i-have-done-love-stories-they-ve-just-been-in-my-other-movies-true/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [“Romance meant more to me now. More than laughter and longing. I couldn’t explain it. Romance, true romance, killed my childish dreams and replaced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-grey/romance-meant-more-to-me-now-more-than-laughter-and-longing-i-couldn/) [Marilyn Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-grey/) > [For me, romance is only 'true' when there are two sides to it. I think to have true romance you have to have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charli-xcx/for-me-romance-is-only-true-when-there-are-two-sides-to-it-i-think-to/) [Charli XCX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charli-xcx/) > [True romance isn't romeo and Juliet who died together. But grandma and grandpa who grew old together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-romance-isn-t-romeo-and-juliet-who-died-together-but-grandma-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The life of man is the true romance, which when it is valiantly conduced, will yield the imagination a higher joy than any fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-life-of-man-is-the-true-romance-which-when-it-is-valiantly/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“A true romance is not something that happens between the skins. It is something that burns our souls beautifully and leaves us craving to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-vasu/a-true-romance-is-not-something-that-happens-between-the-skins-it-is/) [Akshay Vasu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-vasu/) > [Now, my mom did not read well and she read 'True Romance' magazines, but she read with me. And she would spend 30 minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/now-my-mom-did-not-read-well-and-she-read-true-romance-magazines-but/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [Films like 'True Romance' and 'The Last Boy Scout' stuck with me since I saw them when I was young, on every different format.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-evans/films-like-true-romance-and-the-last-boy-scout-stuck-with-me-since-i/) [Gareth Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-evans/) > [Is it weird that I think of myself as a 'Gary Oldman in True Romance' type?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-hill/is-it-weird-that-i-think-of-myself-as-a-gary-oldman-in-true-romance/) [Jonah Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-hill/) > [No, I was never that kind of guy. I believed in true romance; one-night stands are always going to leave you feeling cold and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/channing-tatum/no-i-was-never-that-kind-of-guy-i-believed-in-true-romance-one-night/) [Channing Tatum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/channing-tatum/) ## More by Alan Cohen > [When you protect yourself from pain, be sure you do not protect yourself from love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/when-you-protect-yourself-from-pain-be-sure-you-do-not-protect/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Anyone in a state of seeking can never be happy. Only those who are constantly finding are fulfilled. And finding is not something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/anyone-in-a-state-of-seeking-can-never-be-happy-only-those-who-are/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“You cannot be other than you are. Thank God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/you-cannot-be-other-than-you-are-thank-god/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Evaluate every act by whether it brings you greater life, or deadens you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/evaluate-every-act-by-whether-it-brings-you-greater-life-or-deadens/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Put aside ambition for public recognition, and simply do what you do because it feels good inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/put-aside-ambition-for-public-recognition-and-simply-do-what-you-do/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“When you finally give up striving, you will be left with what you have been striving for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/when-you-finally-give-up-striving-you-will-be-left-with-what-you-have/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“newspaper ads for lost pets and earthquakes that soon follow. Other studies indicate a higher rate of last-minute cancellations for airplane flights that crash.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/newspaper-ads-for-lost-pets-and-earthquakes-that-soon-follow-other/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“Quit using your creative power to formulate questions. You can just as easily—more easily— use it to formulate answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/quit-using-your-creative-power-to-formulate-questions-you-can-just-as/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > ['How can I be more like you?' she asked the guru. 'The best way to be more like me is to be more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/how-can-i-be-more-like-you-she-asked-the-guru-the-best-way-to-be-more/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Turmoil is a call for awakening. Every challenge, great or small, is moving you to look deeper and draw forth the highest in you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/turmoil-is-a-call-for-awakening-every-challenge-great-or-small-is/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The difficulties of life do not keep you from greatness. They show you to its door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-difficulties-of-life-do-not-keep-you-from-greatness-they-show-you/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [What a doctor or healer tells you is a reflection of the beliefs and expectations you hold. Change your beliefs and you change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/what-a-doctor-or-healer-tells-you-is-a-reflection-of-the-beliefs-and/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Quit planning your dream and start living it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/quit-planning-your-dream-and-start-living-it/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The more you invest in your happiness, the more happiness will invest in you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-more-you-invest-in-your-happiness-the-more-happiness-will-invest/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Joy is the wild card of life; it supersedes every other formula for success. If you can find a way to create joy, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/joy-is-the-wild-card-of-life-it-supersedes-every-other-formula-for/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) [Explore all 290 Alan Cohen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) ## More Ego quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [I love playing ego and insecurity combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/i-love-playing-ego-and-insecurity-combined/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a straight shooter, and most of the time my ego doesn't interrupt my relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-macht/i-m-a-straight-shooter-and-most-of-the-time-my-ego-doesn-t-interrupt/) [Gabriel Macht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-macht/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“There are two kinds of people: goal-oriented and ego-oriented. Goal-oriented people work together and get things gone. Ego-oriented people don’t work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-goal-oriented-and-ego-oriented-goal/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I hate acting when I see it. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to see it, I want to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/i-hate-acting-when-i-see-it-i-don-t-want-to-feel-it-i-don-t-want-to/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Show me success without ego!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivana-trump/show-me-success-without-ego/) [Ivana Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivana-trump/) [Browse all 3,462 Ego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of the present.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Cohen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-the-true-romance-of-the-present/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ego" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-the-true-romance-of-the-present/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/alan-cohen-1112_ego_the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-t_1192594.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The ego romanticizes the past to avoid the true romance of the present.” — Alan Cohen", "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": "Alan Cohen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The ego romanticizes the past to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-the-true-romance-of-the-present/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-ego-romanticizes-the-past-to-avoid-the-true-romance-of-the-present/#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 } } ] } ```