--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future is usually imagined as either…" description: "\"The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or pleasurable anticipat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/eckhart-tolle-81_anticipation_the-future-is-usually-imagined-as-either_1433703.jpg" --- # The future is usually imagined as either better or worse… ![“The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or pleasurable anticipation. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusory.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/eckhart-tolle-81_anticipation_the-future-is-usually-imagined-as-either_1433703.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/eckhart-tolle-81_anticipation_the-future-is-usually-imagined-as-either_1433703.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/eckhart-tolle-81_anticipation_the-future-is-usually-imagined-as-either_1433703.jpg) > “The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or pleasurable anticipation. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusory.” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People imagine future outcomes as better or worse, shaping hope or anxiety, but both are mental constructs not guaranteed. **In simple terms:** Imagined futures create hope or anxiety, but are not real. Key Takeaway Recognize thoughts as mental events, not facts. Themes hope anxiety future perception illusion Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - decision making - goal setting - stress management - personal growth Key Concepts psychology mindfulness cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do your future expectations affect present actions? - What evidence supports your imagined outcome? A Different Perspective Future predictions can be inaccurate and cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anticipation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anticipation/) [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Future Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-better/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Illusory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusory/) [Imagined Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-better-358235/) [Imagined Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-future-760253/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Present Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-imagined-4065770/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or imagined future majority in favour of our view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/our-test-of-truth-is-a-reference-to-either-a-present-or-imagined/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [“I imagined that a better world would be less complicated, less involved, and with less need to mass produce doorknobs and lock sets, electric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-williams/i-imagined-that-a-better-world-would-be-less-complicated-less/) [Dee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-williams/) > [“Reality is never what you imagined it would be. Sometimes it’s better. Sometimes it’s worse. And sometimes it’s just different. It’s not worth wasting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-rosmarin/reality-is-never-what-you-imagined-it-would-be-sometimes-it-s-better/) [Abby Rosmarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-rosmarin/) > [To be known so well by someone is an unimaginable gift. But to be imagined so well by someone is even better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/to-be-known-so-well-by-someone-is-an-unimaginable-gift-but-to-be/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Steve Jobs modestly said he has never invented anything, he just imagined a better version of what was already out there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-alden/steve-jobs-modestly-said-he-has-never-invented-anything-he-just/) [Michael Alden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-alden/) > [“But sometimes, things aren't exactly how you always imagined. They're even better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-bynes/but-sometimes-things-aren-t-exactly-how-you-always-imagined-they-re/) [Amanda Bynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-bynes/) > [“It is youth’s felicity as well as its insufficiency that it can never live in the present, but must always be measuring up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/it-is-youth-s-felicity-as-well-as-its-insufficiency-that-it-can-never/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [All we really have when we pretend to write about the future is the moment in which we are writing. That's why every imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/all-we-really-have-when-we-pretend-to-write-about-the-future-is-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“life had been building potential, potential that would now go unrealized. I had planned to do so much, and I had come so close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/life-had-been-building-potential-potential-that-would-now-go/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [Bod was thrilled. He imagined a future in which he could read everything, in which all stories could be opened and discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/bod-was-thrilled-he-imagined-a-future-in-which-he-could-read/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Actually, I wanted to become a journalist, but no matter who I imagined myself to be in the future, somehow I was sure: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-shayk/actually-i-wanted-to-become-a-journalist-but-no-matter-who-i-imagined/) [Irina Shayk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irina-shayk/) > [“He missed that, too, and it hadn't even happened. He missed his imagined future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-missed-that-too-and-it-hadn-t-even-happened-he-missed-his-imagined/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [In my time, we didn't know songs could last. All we ever thought of was next Tuesday. You never imagined a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-my-time-we-didn-t-know-songs-could-last-all-we-ever-thought-of-was/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [Fear is always the result of an unquestioned past imagined as a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/fear-is-always-the-result-of-an-unquestioned-past-imagined-as-a-future/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [“My imagined future and my personal identity collapsed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/my-imagined-future-and-my-personal-identity-collapsed/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Anticipation quotes > [There is something to be said though when you have 4 or 5 guys playing with no net, there is a sense of urgency,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-mendoza/there-is-something-to-be-said-though-when-you-have-4-or-5-guys/) [Marco Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-mendoza/) > [Long intros are cool because there's a little bit of anticipation, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-lambert/long-intros-are-cool-because-there-s-a-little-bit-of-anticipation-you/) [Miranda Lambert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-lambert/) > [Playing shortstop is 75 to 80 percent anticipation, knowing the hitter and the pitch being thrown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-boudreau/playing-shortstop-is-75-to-80-percent-anticipation-knowing-the-hitter/) [Lou Boudreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-boudreau/) > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. Sometimes we find ourselves in winter--discouraged, detached, and dissatisfied; other times we experience springtime, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/marriages-are-always-moving-from-one-season-to-another-sometimes-we/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“O I'm so afraid that it's true about to travel hopefully being better than to arrive. It might be all in the quest, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/o-i-m-so-afraid-that-it-s-true-about-to-travel-hopefully-being-better/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [“If you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-come-at-four-in-the-afternoon-i-ll-begin-to-be-happy-by-three/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Science is not a system of certain, or -established, statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances towards a state of finality... And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [\[It is hard to know what is good luck and what isn't and therefore whether we should be happy or sad about it. Only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelig-pliskin/it-is-hard-to-know-what-is-good-luck-and-what-isn-t-and-therefore/) [Zelig Pliskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelig-pliskin/) > [The so called unconscious inferences can be traced back to the all-preserving memory, which presents us with parallel experiences and hence already knows the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-so-called-unconscious-inferences-can-be-traced-back-to-the-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ The only thing is that ordinarily when I do dance with \[women\] they think I am suddenly going to throw them over a table… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kelly/the-only-thing-is-that-ordinarily-when-i-do-dance-with-women-they/) [Gene Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kelly/) > [Many live in dread of what is coming. Why should we? The unknown puts adventure into life. ... The unexpected around the corner gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/many-live-in-dread-of-what-is-coming-why-should-we-the-unknown-puts/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [The pilot who is always dreading a rock or a tempest must not complain if he remain a poor fisherman. We must at times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/the-pilot-who-is-always-dreading-a-rock-or-a-tempest-must-not/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [I am honoured to be asked to take on this role, especially as it comes at such an integral time for our relationship with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-boateng/i-am-honoured-to-be-asked-to-take-on-this-role-especially-as-it-comes/) [Paul Boateng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-boateng/) > [“I can handle Evil, but I cannot handle Anticipation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabbo-de-la-parra/i-can-handle-evil-but-i-cannot-handle-anticipation/) [Gabbo De La Parra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabbo-de-la-parra/) > [Hope is itself a species of happiness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/hope-is-itself-a-species-of-happiness/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Browse all 758 Anticipation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anticipation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. 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