---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All of this occurs in the past, except…"
description: "\"“All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.”\" — Dodie Bellamy"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg"
---

#  All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.

![“All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.” quote by Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg)

> ““All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.””

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The statement plays with temporal logic, claiming all past events are done except the current sentence.

**In simple terms:** All past is done; this sentence is not.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the present moment.

Themes

time language paradox

Mood

playful intellectual

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- writing
- mindfulness
- critical thinking

Key Concepts

philosophy literature

Questions to Reflect On

- How does language shape our perception of time?
- Can paradoxes reveal hidden truths?

A Different Perspective

It may confuse literal interpretation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Occurs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurs/) [Occurs Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurs-past-3196612/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Sentence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-sentence-3196611/) [Sentence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentence/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [I'm not an artist, and I want to take risks, and when the possibility of failure occurs, it's because the idea is all exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/i-m-not-an-artist-and-i-want-to-take-risks-and-when-the-possibility/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [Suffering occurs when something is taken for what it's not , rather than for what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-segal/suffering-occurs-when-something-is-taken-for-what-it-s-not-rather/)

[Suzanne Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-segal/)

> [“34. Sexual contact between a boy and a girl is a progressive thing. In other words, the amount of touching and caressing and kissing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-dobson/34-sexual-contact-between-a-boy-and-a-girl-is-a-progressive-thing-in/)

[James C. Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-dobson/)

> [In life, comedy occurs naturally, as it should, in the most appalling of circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-baynham/in-life-comedy-occurs-naturally-as-it-should-in-the-most-appalling-of/)

[Peter Baynham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-baynham/)

> [I often think about the many remarkable things that my personal computer can do which I never ask it to do. I probably use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-s-fletcher/i-often-think-about-the-many-remarkable-things-that-my-personal/)

[Geoffrey S. Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-s-fletcher/)

> [In German science, we have a special problem. We lose talented women at the time they get pregnant. Some of it occurs because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-nusslein-volhard/in-german-science-we-have-a-special-problem-we-lose-talented-women-at/)

[Christiane Nusslein-Volhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-nusslein-volhard/)

> [Evolutionary biologists are not content merely to explain how variation occurs within limits, however. They aspire to answer a much broader question-which is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/evolutionary-biologists-are-not-content-merely-to-explain-how/)

[Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/)

> [For me happiness occurs arbitrarily: a moment of eye contact on a bus, where all at once you fall in love; or a frozen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/for-me-happiness-occurs-arbitrarily-a-moment-of-eye-contact-on-a-bus/)

[Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/)

> [I did not claim that speciation occurs only in founder populations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-did-not-claim-that-speciation-occurs-only-in-founder-populations/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [It is always the unreadable that occurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-always-the-unreadable-that-occurs/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It's because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/no-fundamental-social-change-occurs-merely-because-government-acts-it/)

[Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/)

> [To me, the most worrisome part of traveling comes before any of the traveling actually occurs: the suitcase-packing process. It's a challenging and anxiety-filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-marano/to-me-the-most-worrisome-part-of-traveling-comes-before-any-of-the/)

[Laura Marano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-marano/)

> [How many things have to happen to you before something occurs to you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/how-many-things-have-to-happen-to-you-before-something-occurs-to-you/)

[Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/)

> [“Summit Lag occurs when a summit worker is kept in a permanent state of mal-acclimatization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/summit-lag-occurs-when-a-summit-worker-is-kept-in-a-permanent-state/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [I think a lot of things will be self-correcting, even in America. After all, human societies are essentially self-organizing emergent systems. The catch is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/i-think-a-lot-of-things-will-be-self-correcting-even-in-america-after/)

[James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/)

## More by Dodie Bellamy

> [“I suppose that words equal sex, or at least enough words, six and a half hours' worth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/i-suppose-that-words-equal-sex-or-at-least-enough-words-six-and-a/)

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

> [“public display and operatic suffering—an in-your-face owning of one’s vulnerability and fucked-upness to the point of embarrassing and offending tight-asses is a powerful feminist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/public-display-and-operatic-suffering-an-in-your-face-owning-of-one-s/)

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

> [“It's such a burden to have to pull off smart...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/it-s-such-a-burden-to-have-to-pull-off-smart/)

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

> [“I couldn't stand to be alone, yet I didn't want anyone to witness my dailiness, an indiscriminate collage of fragments, random encounters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/i-couldn-t-stand-to-be-alone-yet-i-didn-t-want-anyone-to-witness-my/)

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

> [“We're friends, I told him, it's an indefinable relationship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/we-re-friends-i-told-him-it-s-an-indefinable-relationship/)

[Dodie Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

[Explore all 6 Dodie Bellamy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/)

## More Occurs quotes

> [I'm not an artist, and I want to take risks, and when the possibility of failure occurs, it's because the idea is all exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/i-m-not-an-artist-and-i-want-to-take-risks-and-when-the-possibility/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [“Summit Lag occurs when a summit worker is kept in a permanent state of mal-acclimatization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/summit-lag-occurs-when-a-summit-worker-is-kept-in-a-permanent-state/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [How many things have to happen to you before something occurs to you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/how-many-things-have-to-happen-to-you-before-something-occurs-to-you/)

[Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/)

> [To me, the most worrisome part of traveling comes before any of the traveling actually occurs: the suitcase-packing process. It's a challenging and anxiety-filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-marano/to-me-the-most-worrisome-part-of-traveling-comes-before-any-of-the/)

[Laura Marano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-marano/)

> [No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It's because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/no-fundamental-social-change-occurs-merely-because-government-acts-it/)

[Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/)

> [It is always the unreadable that occurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-always-the-unreadable-that-occurs/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [I did not claim that speciation occurs only in founder populations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-did-not-claim-that-speciation-occurs-only-in-founder-populations/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [For me happiness occurs arbitrarily: a moment of eye contact on a bus, where all at once you fall in love; or a frozen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/for-me-happiness-occurs-arbitrarily-a-moment-of-eye-contact-on-a-bus/)

[Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/)

> [Evolutionary biologists are not content merely to explain how variation occurs within limits, however. They aspire to answer a much broader question-which is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/evolutionary-biologists-are-not-content-merely-to-explain-how/)

[Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/)

> [In German science, we have a special problem. We lose talented women at the time they get pregnant. Some of it occurs because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-nusslein-volhard/in-german-science-we-have-a-special-problem-we-lose-talented-women-at/)

[Christiane Nusslein-Volhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-nusslein-volhard/)

> [I often think about the many remarkable things that my personal computer can do which I never ask it to do. I probably use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-s-fletcher/i-often-think-about-the-many-remarkable-things-that-my-personal/)

[Geoffrey S. Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-s-fletcher/)

> [In life, comedy occurs naturally, as it should, in the most appalling of circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-baynham/in-life-comedy-occurs-naturally-as-it-should-in-the-most-appalling-of/)

[Peter Baynham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-baynham/)

> [“34. Sexual contact between a boy and a girl is a progressive thing. In other words, the amount of touching and caressing and kissing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-dobson/34-sexual-contact-between-a-boy-and-a-girl-is-a-progressive-thing-in/)

[James C. Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-dobson/)

> [Suffering occurs when something is taken for what it's not , rather than for what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-segal/suffering-occurs-when-something-is-taken-for-what-it-s-not-rather/)

[Suzanne Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-segal/)

> [I think a lot of things will be self-correcting, even in America. After all, human societies are essentially self-organizing emergent systems. The catch is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/i-think-a-lot-of-things-will-be-self-correcting-even-in-america-after/)

[James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/)

[Browse all 104 Occurs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurs/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Dodie Bellamy"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-this-sentence/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Occurs"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-this-sentence/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/dodie-bellamy-56243_time_all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-th_1143314.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“All of this occurs in the past, except this sentence.” — Dodie Bellamy",
                "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": "Dodie Bellamy",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-bellamy/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“All of this occurs in the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-this-sentence/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-bellamy/all-of-this-occurs-in-the-past-except-this-sentence/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```