--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should always look back on our own…" description: "\"We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please let some of the contempt be there.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png" --- # We should always look back on our own past with a sort of… ![“We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please let some of the contempt be there.” quote by Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png) > “We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please let some of the contempt be there.” [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages critical self‑examination while preserving compassion for one's earlier self. **In simple terms:** Balance self‑critique with empathy. Key Takeaway Reflect, learn, but stay kind. Themes self‑reflection growth compassion humility self‑awareness Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - journaling about past decisions - coaching sessions - therapy reflections Key Concepts personal development emotional intelligence Practical Applications - self‑improvement workshops - leadership training Questions to Reflect On - How can you critique past actions without harsh self‑judgment? - What role does compassion play in personal growth? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Contempt Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt-long-875749/) [Let Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-contempt-875748/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Look Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-past-271348/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Please](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/please/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Tenderness Let](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness-let-875750/) ## Related quotes > [When you continue to dwell on the past, there's no chance for a future. History repeats itself, thus, it's ok to LOOK back at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-continue-to-dwell-on-the-past-there-s-no-chance-for-a-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I look back at my past and the way I grew up, I grew up on communes. That was meant to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-carlyle/when-i-look-back-at-my-past-and-the-way-i-grew-up-i-grew-up-on/) [Robert Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-carlyle/) > [We all look behind us to the past right now though we need the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassy-turner/we-all-look-behind-us-to-the-past-right-now-though-we-need-the-future/) [Cassy Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassy-turner/) > [Don't look back, there is nothing in past, look in the future and win it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrprince/don-t-look-back-there-is-nothing-in-past-look-in-the-future-and-win-it/) [Mrprince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrprince/) > [Don't look back at your past, you can't fix what's already been done, just move forward and live in the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-look-back-at-your-past-you-can-t-fix-what-s-already-been-done/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Humans rarely look back to the past, until they have made the same mistake!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucinda-riley/humans-rarely-look-back-to-the-past-until-they-have-made-the-same/) [Lucinda Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucinda-riley/) > [“When you look at the past, the past will always be deterministic, since only one single observation took place.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/when-you-look-at-the-past-the-past-will-always-be-deterministic-since/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Don't look back to the past. Look towards the future for a better tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-look-back-to-the-past-look-towards-the-future-for-a-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I know what it is to look at your past, and see nothing more than your mistakes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-gaughen/i-know-what-it-is-to-look-at-your-past-and-see-nothing-more-than-your/) [A.C. Gaughen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-gaughen/) > [Don't look into the past look into the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-look-into-the-past-look-into-the-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You have to look past the beauty to see the ugliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nath-jones/you-have-to-look-past-the-beauty-to-see-the-ugliness/) [Nath Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nath-jones/) > [There is a way to look at the past. Don't hide from it. It will not catch you if you don't repeat it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-bailey/there-is-a-way-to-look-at-the-past-don-t-hide-from-it-it-will-not/) [Pearl Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-bailey/) > [I look back into past history, the stored experiences or products of the imagination. I look no further forward than the evening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-kosi-ski/i-look-back-into-past-history-the-stored-experiences-or-products-of/) [Jerzy Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerzy-kosi-ski/) > [It is as good as second life to be able to look back upon our past life with pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/it-is-as-good-as-second-life-to-be-able-to-look-back-upon-our-past/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [A lot of people go through life like they are rowing a boat. They look at where they have been (the PAST) rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-lot-of-people-go-through-life-like-they-are-rowing-a-boat-they-look/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Dennis Potter > [Television's Mr. Filth: that's me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/television-s-mr-filth-that-s-me/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“My only regret is to die four pages too soon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/my-only-regret-is-to-die-four-pages-too-soon/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [As a piece of literacy criticism, Freud's best writing is about Dostoyevsky. It's a kind of displaced literacy criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/as-a-piece-of-literacy-criticism-freud-s-best-writing-is-about/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Words themselves - the very material of our discourse increasingly take on masks or disguises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/words-themselves-the-very-material-of-our-discourse-increasingly-take/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The loss of Eden is personally experienced by every one of us as we leave the wonder and magic and also the pains and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-loss-of-eden-is-personally-experienced-by-every-one-of-us-as-we/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Therapy, as opposed to analysis, is a whole construct of myth, beautiful and creative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/therapy-as-opposed-to-analysis-is-a-whole-construct-of-myth-beautiful/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Metaphor is embodied in language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/metaphor-is-embodied-in-language/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I have been aware, from the age of 6, that I had talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-have-been-aware-from-the-age-of-6-that-i-had-talent/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [I was given talent, and if you are given it, it is your obligation to use it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/i-was-given-talent-and-if-you-are-given-it-it-is-your-obligation-to/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The strangest thing that human speech and human writing can do is create a metaphor. That is an amazing leap, is it not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-strangest-thing-that-human-speech-and-human-writing-can-do-is/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [People endure what they endure and they deal with it. It may corrupt them. It may lead them into all sorts of compensatory excesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/people-endure-what-they-endure-and-they-deal-with-it-it-may-corrupt/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [You just don't know writers. They'll use anything, anybody. They'll eat their young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/you-just-don-t-know-writers-they-ll-use-anything-anybody-they-ll-eat/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [The thing about imagination is that by the very act of putting it down, there must be some truth in one's own imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/the-thing-about-imagination-is-that-by-the-very-act-of-putting-it/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/ideals-jump-across-the-hierarchies-of-the-printed-word/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“Nigel Barton:Everyone says 'Up at Oxford'. You come 'down' when you've finished there. Harry Barton: Well, what's this then? Does bloody Oxford move up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/nigel-barton-everyone-says-up-at-oxford-you-come-down-when-you-ve/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) [Explore all 46 Dennis Potter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) ## More Contempt quotes > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Our security depends on having good relationships with our allies. Donald Trump mainly shows contempt for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-wolfowitz/our-security-depends-on-having-good-relationships-with-our-allies/) [Paul Wolfowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-wolfowitz/) > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There is no real elevation of mind in a contempt of little things; it is, on the contrary, from too narrow views that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/there-is-no-real-elevation-of-mind-in-a-contempt-of-little-things-it/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Somebody once told me that if you laugh at a George Bush joke, or you send an email cartoon to your friends that makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ramis/somebody-once-told-me-that-if-you-laugh-at-a-george-bush-joke-or-you/) [Harold Ramis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ramis/) > [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/) [Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/) > [Much of the same sort of degraded and filthy talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/much-of-the-same-sort-of-degraded-and-filthy-talk-can-still-be-heard/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [Contempt for an assailant is best shown by bravery in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/contempt-for-an-assailant-is-best-shown-by-bravery-in-action/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Statuettes of drunken sailors, velvet pictures of island maidens, plastic seashell lamps made in Taiwan. What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/statuettes-of-drunken-sailors-velvet-pictures-of-island-maidens/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [Every person of any rank in the left, from voter on up to cabinet member to elected official in the Democrat Party, has contempt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/every-person-of-any-rank-in-the-left-from-voter-on-up-to-cabinet/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Those with a gift for action, for their part, often express contempt for those whose gifts are more reflective. Men of action like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/those-with-a-gift-for-action-for-their-part-often-express-contempt/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“opprobrious term, employed to impose contempt upon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jabari-asim/opprobrious-term-employed-to-impose-contempt-upon/) [Jabari Asim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jabari-asim/) > [Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women's bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/heterosexual-intercourse-is-the-pure-formalized-expression-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) [Browse all 1,034 Contempt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but please let some of the contempt be there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dennis Potter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contempt" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/243/dennis-potter-13787_contempt_we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-pa_65654.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We should always look back on our own past with a sort of contempt, as long as the tenderness is there - but…” — Dennis Potter", "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": "Dennis Potter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We should always look back on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/we-should-always-look-back-on-our-own-past-with-a-sort-of-contempt-as/#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 } } ] } ```