--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What prophecy actually is is not that you…" description: "\"“What prophecy actually is is not that you actually know that the bomb will fall in 1942. It’s that you know and feel something that somebody knows and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/allen-ginsberg-1110_prophecy_what-prophecy-actually-is-is-not-that-yo_1852846.jpg" --- # What prophecy actually is is not that you actually know… ![“What prophecy actually is is not that you actually know that the bomb will fall in 1942. It’s that you know and feel something that somebody knows and feels in a hundred years. And maybe articulate it in a hint—a concrete way that they can pick up on in a hundred years.” quote by Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/allen-ginsberg-1110_prophecy_what-prophecy-actually-is-is-not-that-yo_1852846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/allen-ginsberg-1110_prophecy_what-prophecy-actually-is-is-not-that-yo_1852846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/allen-ginsberg-1110_prophecy_what-prophecy-actually-is-is-not-that-yo_1852846.jpg) > ““What prophecy actually is is not that you actually know that the bomb will fall in 1942. It’s that you know and feel something that somebody knows and feels in a hundred years. And maybe articulate it in a hint—a concrete way that they can pick up on in a hundred years.”” [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A prophecy is a shared intuitive feeling that transcends time, not a precise prediction, and can be expressed as a subtle hint for future generations. **In simple terms:** Prophecy is a timeless intuition expressed subtly. Key Takeaway Trust intuition and convey it gently. Themes intuition future communication Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - historical analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology collective consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize a timeless intuition? - What language best conveys subtle future hints? A Different Perspective Prophecies can be misinterpreted or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Prophecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophecy/) ## Related quotes > [Before I do anything, I practice it for a while, and then when I know it's the bomb, then I'm gonna present it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-thee-stallion/before-i-do-anything-i-practice-it-for-a-while-and-then-when-i-know/) [Megan Thee Stallion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-thee-stallion/) > [When a bomb actually goes off, there's a lot of confusion, and people often don't know a bomb has gone off. For a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/when-a-bomb-actually-goes-off-there-s-a-lot-of-confusion-and-people/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [I'm an old man now, and a lonesome man in Kansas / but not afraid / to speak my lonesomeness in a car, /…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-m-an-old-man-now-and-a-lonesome-man-in-kansas-but-not-afraid-to/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Most of the time after the US Open, it is kind of like you are trying to finish strong. But to do it five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sampras/most-of-the-time-after-the-us-open-it-is-kind-of-like-you-are-trying/) [Pete Sampras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sampras/) > [We get 80 years, maybe at the most 100. Trillions of years in eternity. This life is preparation for the next. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/we-get-80-years-maybe-at-the-most-100-trillions-of-years-in-eternity/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I just wish I’d asked you sooner. We could’ve had ages . . . months . . . years maybe. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-just-wish-i-d-asked-you-sooner-we-could-ve-had-ages-months-years/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If the Book of the Law could be forgotten for so many years, who knows what was done to it during those years? Maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/if-the-book-of-the-law-could-be-forgotten-for-so-many-years-who-knows/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I want to take a few years out, maybe make a couple of more films or whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-felton/i-want-to-take-a-few-years-out-maybe-make-a-couple-of-more-films-or/) [Tom Felton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-felton/) > [Maybe further down the road in my career, in a couple of years when I'm maybe not that fast any more around the court,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-federer/maybe-further-down-the-road-in-my-career-in-a-couple-of-years-when-i/) [Roger Federer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-federer/) > [Being a CEO used to be something you did for 15 years. Now you do it for five, maybe. The lifespan is getting shorter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-martin/being-a-ceo-used-to-be-something-you-did-for-15-years-now-you-do-it/) [Michel Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-martin/) > [The things you're crying about today, you might be laughing about in ten years ... and then again ... maybe not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lowry/the-things-you-re-crying-about-today-you-might-be-laughing-about-in/) [Mark Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lowry/) > [I don't think history is stupid.History ultimately rectifies a lot of these things. If you had to ask me what I think happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/i-don-t-think-history-is-stupid-history-ultimately-rectifies-a-lot-of/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [The arts speak across epochs. If you think that people started to build a cathedral in 1315 and the people worked on that cathedral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/the-arts-speak-across-epochs-if-you-think-that-people-started-to/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [I always felt older than my years, maybe because I was married to someone older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-brightman/i-always-felt-older-than-my-years-maybe-because-i-was-married-to/) [Sarah Brightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-brightman/) > [See, it's kind of like James Bond. There's a new James Bond every couple of years. Maybe I can do the new 'MacGyver' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucas-till/see-it-s-kind-of-like-james-bond-there-s-a-new-james-bond-every/) [Lucas Till](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucas-till/) ## More by Allen Ginsberg > [“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked... who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-saw-the-best-minds-of-my-generation-destroyed-by-madness-starving/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“I'm with you in Rockland in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-m-with-you-in-rockland-in-my-dreams-you-walk-dripping-from-a-sea/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Slaves of Plastic! Leather-shoe chino-pants prisoners! Haircut junkies! Dacron-shiffers!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/slaves-of-plastic-leather-shoe-chino-pants-prisoners-haircut-junkies/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [I was putting on a stiff upper lip and trying to fulfill the obligations I thought were demanded of me, taking over my father's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-was-putting-on-a-stiff-upper-lip-and-trying-to-fulfill-the/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“No more to say, and nothing to weep for”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/no-more-to-say-and-nothing-to-weep-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/poetry-is-not-an-expression-of-the-party-line-it-s-that-time-of-night/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“with my fucking suave manners and knowitall, eyes, and mind full of fantasy - the Me! that horror that keeps me conscious, in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/with-my-fucking-suave-manners-and-knowitall-eyes-and-mind-full-of/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [The apparition of an evil, sick unconscious wild city rose before me in visible semblance, and about the dead buildings in the barren air,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-apparition-of-an-evil-sick-unconscious-wild-city-rose-before-me/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/america-i-m-putting-my-queer-shoulder-to-the-wheel/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [The desire to have power dissolves. The desire to dominate people for love dissolves. On the other hand, it's a relief to realize you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-desire-to-have-power-dissolves-the-desire-to-dominate-people-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Poor dead flower? when did you forget you were a flower?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/poor-dead-flower-when-did-you-forget-you-were-a-flower/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Central Intelligence cutting Meo opium fields! China Lobby copping poppies in Burma! How long this Addict government support our oil-burner matter-habit”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/central-intelligence-cutting-meo-opium-fields-china-lobby-copping/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Forty feet long sixty feet high hotel Covered with old gray for buzzing flies Eye like mango flowing orange pus Ears Durga people vomiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/forty-feet-long-sixty-feet-high-hotel-covered-with-old-gray-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Hairy Mammal whaddya want”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/hairy-mammal-whaddya-want/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Burroughs ... his very junkhood an accomplishment beyond a million dollars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/burroughs-his-very-junkhood-an-accomplishment-beyond-a-million-dollars/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) [Explore all 289 Allen Ginsberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ## More Prophecy quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [When the government pays, health care's lack of affordability becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In health care, as in other things, government is the high-cost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-kling/when-the-government-pays-health-care-s-lack-of-affordability-becomes/) [Arnold Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-kling/) > [“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-speak-in-the-tongues-of-men-or-of-angels-but-do-not-have-love-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Surely it becomes a wise man, at a time like this, to turn to the pages of prophecy and to inquire what is yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-lifsey/surely-it-becomes-a-wise-man-at-a-time-like-this-to-turn-to-the-pages/) [Dalton Lifsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-lifsey/) > [Life is self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/life-is-self-fulfilling-prophecy/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Stomach full of jitters, little beasts that were second cousins to guacamolians—little green monsters that wreaked havoc in your stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kely-mcclung/stomach-full-of-jitters-little-beasts-that-were-second-cousins-to/) [William Kely McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kely-mcclung/) > [I only know I have this power. I have always had this power. I can feel it burning within me, driving me on. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grigori-rasputin/i-only-know-i-have-this-power-i-have-always-had-this-power-i-can-feel/) [Grigori Rasputin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grigori-rasputin/) > [And my fear of failure has been lifelong and deep. If you are what you do- and I think my parents may have accidentally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/and-my-fear-of-failure-has-been-lifelong-and-deep-if-you-are-what-you/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [It is not merely the multiplicity of tints, the gladness of tone, or the balminess of the air which delight in the spring; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/it-is-not-merely-the-multiplicity-of-tints-the-gladness-of-tone-or/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/among-all-the-valuable-things-of-this-world-the-word-is-the-most/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“if people believe this, they would act on that belief. Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is transmuted”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/if-people-believe-this-they-would-act-on-that-belief-many-a-prophecy/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [We were young, and we had no need for prophecies. Just living was itself an act of prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/we-were-young-and-we-had-no-need-for-prophecies-just-living-was/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [PROPHECY, n. The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/prophecy-n-the-art-and-practice-of-selling-one-s-credibility-for/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [It is not till it is discovered that high individual incomes will not purchase the mass of mankind immunity from cholera, typhus, and ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-h-tawney/it-is-not-till-it-is-discovered-that-high-individual-incomes-will-not/) [R. H. Tawney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-h-tawney/) > [“Oh, one more thing,' Thor calls out. 'If I know my prophecy, and I do, you beautiful ladies had best start looking for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keidl/oh-one-more-thing-thor-calls-out-if-i-know-my-prophecy-and-i-do-you/) [Daniel Keidl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keidl/) [Browse all 657 Prophecy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophecy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What prophecy actually is is not that you actually know that the bomb will fall in 1942. It’s that you know and feel something that somebody knows and feels in a hundred years. 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