--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who would fare better in this world of…" description: "\"Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life? Or those who have not seen the future and wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/alan-lightman-2270_deny_who-would-fare-better-in-this-world-of-f_1631098.jpg" --- # Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those… ![“Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life? Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life? Or those who deny the future and live two lives?” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/alan-lightman-2270_deny_who-would-fare-better-in-this-world-of-f_1631098.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/alan-lightman-2270_deny_who-would-fare-better-in-this-world-of-f_1631098.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/alan-lightman-2270_deny_who-would-fare-better-in-this-world-of-f_1631098.jpg) > “Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life? Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life? Or those who deny the future and live two lives?” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questions how different perceptions of time affect living choices and identity **In simple terms:** How we view time shapes our life decisions Key Takeaway Reflect on your relationship with time and future expectations Themes philosophy temporal perception identity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career planning - personal goal setting - life coaching - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism future studies Questions to Reflect On - What does your view of the future tell you about your present actions? - Do you live more in anticipation or in the moment? A Different Perspective Future uncertainty can paralyze action ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Live life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-life/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [When you get stuck in the past, you deny yourself your future potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/when-you-get-stuck-in-the-past-you-deny-yourself-your-future-potential/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You can avoid me all your Life, but you can never deny my Love for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/you-can-avoid-me-all-your-life-but-you-can-never-deny-my-love-for-you/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [That's life,and I can't deny it/Many times I thought of cuttin' out but my heart won't buy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sinatra/that-s-life-and-i-can-t-deny-it-many-times-i-thought-of-cuttin-out/) [Frank Sinatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sinatra/) > [Don't deny the existence of a mountain in your life; deny its authority to stay, and refuse to allow it to stop the plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-duplantis/don-t-deny-the-existence-of-a-mountain-in-your-life-deny-its/) [Jesse Duplantis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-duplantis/) > [Change the texture of your thoughts and your life will change. The future is not something we wait for, it is something we create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dyllan/change-the-texture-of-your-thoughts-and-your-life-will-change-the/) [Dyllan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dyllan/) > [“That's the wonderful thing about the future. All you ever have to do is wait for it. It will come to you,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-r-lallo/that-s-the-wonderful-thing-about-the-future-all-you-ever-have-to-do/) [Joseph R. Lallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-r-lallo/) > [The future can always wait so long as the here-and-now is rapturous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sington/the-future-can-always-wait-so-long-as-the-here-and-now-is-rapturous/) [Philip Sington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sington/) > [Waiting required a future to wait for: a falsehood. I know now that there is only now. I remember things that happened months (or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kij-johnson/waiting-required-a-future-to-wait-for-a-falsehood-i-know-now-that/) [Kij Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kij-johnson/) > [There is a future, and I can't wait to get to it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/there-is-a-future-and-i-can-t-wait-to-get-to-it/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [ “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’ \[Matthew 16:25.\]…He who is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/whosoever-will-save-his-life-shall-lose-it-and-whosoever-will-lose/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [“For a woman to deny the necessity of true love in her life would be to deny herself, and her creator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwain-k-white-sr/for-a-woman-to-deny-the-necessity-of-true-love-in-her-life-would-be/) Dwain K. White Sr > [My philosophy is based on the principle of self-ownership. You own your life. To deny this is to imply that another person has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-schoolland/my-philosophy-is-based-on-the-principle-of-self-ownership-you-own/) [Ken Schoolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-schoolland/) > [If you want to participate in life, you have to deny your identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/if-you-want-to-participate-in-life-you-have-to-deny-your-identity/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [Grief is a profound part of recovery and new life. Tears of regrets, remorse and despair waters the roots of love and life itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/grief-is-a-profound-part-of-recovery-and-new-life-tears-of-regrets/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Said I'll be just fine without you in my life. I couldnt deny it be the greatest lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-dm/said-i-ll-be-just-fine-without-you-in-my-life-i-couldnt-deny-it-be/) [Benjamin Dm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-dm/) ## More by Alan Lightman > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the-contemporary-universe-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Deny quotes > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/one-cannot-deny-the-humanity-of-another-without-diminishing-one-s-own/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Not to fear a person with power--to profess, instead, one's love--is to deny that that person has power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lowen/not-to-fear-a-person-with-power-to-profess-instead-one-s-love-is-to/) [Alexander Lowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lowen/) > [Grace is ours. Let's live it! Deny it or debate it and we kill it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/grace-is-ours-let-s-live-it-deny-it-or-debate-it-and-we-kill-it/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [Our life is half natural and half technological. Half-and-half is good. You cannot deny that high-tech is progress. We need it for jobs. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nam-june-paik/our-life-is-half-natural-and-half-technological-half-and-half-is-good/) [Nam June Paik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nam-june-paik/) > [Whether you face reality head on and make a life change, or deny your responsibility, you've made a choice. The way I see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-phillips/whether-you-face-reality-head-on-and-make-a-life-change-or-deny-your/) [Shawn Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-phillips/) > [“I've tried to deny it even to myself... My heart and soul are filled with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-thacker/i-ve-tried-to-deny-it-even-to-myself-my-heart-and-soul-are-filled/) [Shelly Thacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-thacker/) > [“Just because you deny facts and science doesn't mean they aren't true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-corn/just-because-you-deny-facts-and-science-doesn-t-mean-they-aren-t-true/) [Johnny Corn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-corn/) > [I do not believe that defending traditional marriage between one man and one woman excludes anybody or usurps anybody's civil rights and denies anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-autry/i-do-not-believe-that-defending-traditional-marriage-between-one-man/) [Alan Autry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-autry/) > [Peace in the struggle to find peace.. comfort on the way to comfort. And if I shed a tear I won't cage it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/peace-in-the-struggle-to-find-peace-comfort-on-the-way-to-comfort-and/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [I'm saying that the domain of poetry includes both oral & written forms, that poetry goes back to a pre-literate situation & would survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-rothenberg/i-m-saying-that-the-domain-of-poetry-includes-both-oral-written-forms/) Jerome Rothenberg > [It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre "kick". Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-the-night-black-massachusetts-legendry-which-packs-the-really/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Something very unique about Germany is that once you are suspected or accused of having worked for the Stassi, it doesn't matter if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-schwochow/something-very-unique-about-germany-is-that-once-you-are-suspected-or/) [Christian Schwochow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-schwochow/) Browse all 2,237 Deny quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Who would fare better in this world of fitful time? Those who have seen the future and live only one life? Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life? 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