--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future - what should I do with the…" description: "\"“The future - what should I do with the future? I felt like one who has climbed the brow of a great hill, and finds only a sea of mist beyond. Go forwa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/amelia-b-edwards-35864_art_the-future-what-should-i-do-with-the-fut_1759391.png" --- # The future - what should I do with the future? I felt like… ![“The future - what should I do with the future? I felt like one who has climbed the brow of a great hill, and finds only a sea of mist beyond. Go forward I must; but to what goal? With what aim? With what hopes? My father had already distinctly forbidden me to adopt art as a profession. My sister…” quote by Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/amelia-b-edwards-35864_art_the-future-what-should-i-do-with-the-fut_1759391.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/amelia-b-edwards-35864_art_the-future-what-should-i-do-with-the-fut_1759391.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/449/amelia-b-edwards-35864_art_the-future-what-should-i-do-with-the-fut_1759391.png) > ““The future - what should I do with the future? I felt like one who has climbed the brow of a great hill, and finds only a sea of mist beyond. Go forward I must; but to what goal? With what aim? With what hopes? My father had already distinctly forbidden me to adopt art as a profession. My sister, by ignoring all the purport of my last letter, as distinctly signified her own contempt for that which was to me as the life of my life. Neither loved me; both had wounded me bitterly; and I now, almost for the first time, distinctly saw how difficult a struggle lay before me. "If I become a painter," I thought, "I become so in defiance of my family; and, defying them, am alone in the wide world evermore. If, on the contrary, I yield and obey, what manner of life lies before me? The hollow life of fashionable society, into which I shall be carried as a marriageable commodity, and where I shall be expected to fulfil my duty as a daughter by securing a wealthy husband as speedily as possible. Alas! alas! what an alternative! Was it for this that I had studied and striven? Was it for this that I had built such fairy castles, and dreamt such dreams?”” [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator wrestles with familial expectations versus personal artistic calling, fearing isolation and societal judgment. **In simple terms:** Choosing art over family expectations. Key Takeaway Weigh personal passion against duty. Themes conflict art family identity Mood reflective anxious Type philosophical dramatic When to use this quote - career decision - family negotiation - financial planning Key Concepts self‑actualization social pressure Questions to Reflect On - Will you follow your art or conform? - What are the costs of defiance? A Different Perspective Family pressure may limit freedom and cause emotional pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [My mother thought I would have a hard life as a painter. 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In her last letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-do-apologize-for-writing-by-hand-and-so-badly-i-shall-soon-be-like/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [“APOCOPE  (APO'COPE)   n.s.\[  figure in grammar,when the last letter or syllable of a word is taken away; as, ingeni for ingenii.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/apocope-apo-cope-n-s-figure-in-grammar-when-the-last-letter-or/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“And Cézanne, in the last letter he wrote, laments his poor health, and adds: “Je continue donc mes études.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/and-c-zanne-in-the-last-letter-he-wrote-laments-his-poor-health-and/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“Dear Mr. Weston, Hello again. We were beginning to wonder what had happened to you. I guess things have been pretty quiet since the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-korman/dear-mr-weston-hello-again-we-were-beginning-to-wonder-what-had/) [Gordon Korman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-korman/) > [A person who says that O is the last letter of ZERO, instead of the first letter in OPPORTUNITY.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/araba/a-person-who-says-that-o-is-the-last-letter-of-zero-instead-of-the/) [Araba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/araba/) ## More by Amelia B. Edwards > [between prosperity and adversity there can be little real fellowship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/between-prosperity-and-adversity-there-can-be-little-real-fellowship/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [It may be said of some very old places, as of some very old books, that they are destined to be forever new. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/it-may-be-said-of-some-very-old-places-as-of-some-very-old-books-that/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [The world is terribly apt to take people at their own valuation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/the-world-is-terribly-apt-to-take-people-at-their-own-valuation/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [The camel has his virtues - so much at least must be admitted; but they do not lie upon the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/the-camel-has-his-virtues-so-much-at-least-must-be-admitted-but-they/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [“My heart beat violently. My forehead was bathed in a cold perspiration. 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Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [It is so easy to believe in pleasant impossibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/it-is-so-easy-to-believe-in-pleasant-impossibilities/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [Love is of all stimulants the most powerful. It sharpens the wits like danger, and the memory like hatred; it spurs the will like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/love-is-of-all-stimulants-the-most-powerful-it-sharpens-the-wits-like/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [It has been aptly said that all Egypt is but the facade of an immense sepulcher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/it-has-been-aptly-said-that-all-egypt-is-but-the-facade-of-an-immense/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) > [Were I asked to define it, I should reply that archeology is that science which enables us to register and classify our knowledge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-b-edwards/were-i-asked-to-define-it-i-should-reply-that-archeology-is-that/) [Amelia B. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) [Explore all 13 Amelia B. Edwards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-b-edwards/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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I felt like one who has climbed the brow of a great hill, and finds only a sea of mist beyond. Go forward I must; but to what goal? With what aim? With what hopes? My father had already distinctly forbidden me to adopt art as a profession. My sister, by ignoring all the purport of my last letter, as distinctly signified her own contempt for that which was to me as the life of my life. Neither loved me; both had wounded me bitterly; and I now, almost for the first time, distinctly saw how difficult a struggle lay before me. \"If I become a painter,\" I thought, \"I become so in defiance of my family; and, defying them, am alone in the wide world evermore. If, on the contrary, I yield and obey, what manner of life lies before me? The hollow life of fashionable society, into which I shall be carried as a marriageable commodity, and where I shall be expected to fulfil my duty as a daughter by securing a wealthy husband as speedily as possible. Alas! alas! what an alternative! 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