--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This society believed it was looking…" description: "\"This society believed it was looking towards a new future, yet we consistently find ourselves being dragged backwards.\" — David Ervine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg" --- # This society believed it was looking towards a new future… ![“This society believed it was looking towards a new future, yet we consistently find ourselves being dragged backwards.” quote by David Ervine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg) > “This society believed it was looking towards a new future, yet we consistently find ourselves being dragged backwards.” [David Ervine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ervine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on society’s promise of progress that is undermined by regressive forces, highlighting a tension between hope and reality. **In simple terms:** Progress promised but often reversed. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist forces that pull us backward. Themes progress regression future disillusionment Mood cautious critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - policy reform - community activism - education initiatives - cultural shifts Key Concepts historical cycles social inertia political dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What pulls society backward? - How can we sustain forward momentum? A Different Perspective May ignore genuine advancements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backwards/) [Consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistently/) [Consistently Dragged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistently-dragged-6061733/) [Dragged Backwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragged-backwards-6061732/) [Future Consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-consistently-6061734/) [New future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-future/) [Society Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-believed-1274359/) [This society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-society/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“If I grew up in the simple-minded belief that women were as strong and intelligent as men, it was because I came from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-abbott/if-i-grew-up-in-the-simple-minded-belief-that-women-were-as-strong/) [Shirley Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-abbott/) > [Respectable society believed in God in order to avoid having to speak about him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/respectable-society-believed-in-god-in-order-to-avoid-having-to-speak/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I'm also interested in the modern suggestion that you can have a combination of love and sex in a marriage - which no previous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-m-also-interested-in-the-modern-suggestion-that-you-can-have-a/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“A myth can be picked up by a whole society, believed and taught to the next generation. Gods, fairies, witches—believing a thing doesn’t make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/a-myth-can-be-picked-up-by-a-whole-society-believed-and-taught-to-the/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“The lie was that we believed that we believed all people were created equal! What made us think we were this great free society?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/the-lie-was-that-we-believed-that-we-believed-all-people-were-created/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [By 1980, we knew it was time to renew our faith, to strive with all our strength toward the ultimate in individual freedom consistent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/by-1980-we-knew-it-was-time-to-renew-our-faith-to-strive-with-all-our/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“If I dream by myself, it's merely a dream. 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Not only will the new Bournville College…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-murray/we-have-taken-a-major-step-forward-in-providing-a-new-high-quality/) [Mike Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-murray/) > [Hope requires a very careful symbolization. It must not be expressed too fully in the present tense because hope one can touch and handle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-brueggemann/hope-requires-a-very-careful-symbolization-it-must-not-be-expressed/) [Walter Brueggemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-brueggemann/) > [If we want a new future that does not look like our past, we must make new choices in the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/if-we-want-a-new-future-that-does-not-look-like-our-past-we-must-make/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [I've got a new life now, a new future, there's a lot more to Lennox Lewis than just being a boxer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennox-lewis/i-ve-got-a-new-life-now-a-new-future-there-s-a-lot-more-to-lennox/) [Lennox Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennox-lewis/) > [“We permit a new future to enter the room with these startling encounters. 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I spend very little time, looking backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/i-m-just-always-looking-forwards-i-spend-very-little-time-looking/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [I wear T-shirts and backwards hats and buy my shoes at Payless!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlyn-bristowe/i-wear-t-shirts-and-backwards-hats-and-buy-my-shoes-at-payless/) [Kaitlyn Bristowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlyn-bristowe/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Why don't you just imagine it never happened..??](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/effy-stonem/why-don-t-you-just-imagine-it-never-happened/) [Effy Stonem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/effy-stonem/) > [“It would seem no matter how progressive we get there are always those few who are backwards in their ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solange-nicole/it-would-seem-no-matter-how-progressive-we-get-there-are-always-those/) [Solange nicole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solange-nicole/) > [In the spiritual life, he who does not advance goes backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/in-the-spiritual-life-he-who-does-not-advance-goes-backwards/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/now-success-is-not-the-result-of-making-money-making-money-is-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/can-anyone-be-so-foolish-as-to-believe-that-there-are-men-whose-feet/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [I took a little break - I was coming back to work and the last thing I was going to do was take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-took-a-little-break-i-was-coming-back-to-work-and-the-last-thing-i/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [Only a fool walks into the future backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/only-a-fool-walks-into-the-future-backwards/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) > [We have different expectations for different groups of people. 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We start with the customer and we work backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/we-re-not-competitor-obsessed-we-re-customer-obsessed-we-start-with/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) [Browse all 837 Backwards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backwards/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This society believed it was looking towards a new future, yet we consistently find ourselves being dragged backwards.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Ervine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ervine/this-society-believed-it-was-looking-towards-a-new-future-yet-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Backwards" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ervine/this-society-believed-it-was-looking-towards-a-new-future-yet-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/david-ervine-88318_backwards_this-society-believed-it-was-looking-tow_3222087.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This society believed it was looking towards a new future, yet we consistently find ourselves being dragged…” — David Ervine", "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": "David Ervine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ervine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This society believed it was looking...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ervine/this-society-believed-it-was-looking-towards-a-new-future-yet-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ervine/this-society-believed-it-was-looking-towards-a-new-future-yet-we/#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 } } ] } ```