--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ninety percent of the population spends…" description: "\"“Ninety percent of the population spends time imagining their future and forgetting that now is where we live and breathe. The ten percent who live in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/everly-drummond-236934_life_ninety-percent-of-the-population-spends_2656508.jpg" --- # Ninety percent of the population spends time imagining… ![“Ninety percent of the population spends time imagining their future and forgetting that now is where we live and breathe. The ten percent who live in the present are the ones who have the stories to tell, the ones who live life the way it's meant to be lived.” quote by Everly Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/everly-drummond-236934_life_ninety-percent-of-the-population-spends_2656508.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/everly-drummond-236934_life_ninety-percent-of-the-population-spends_2656508.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/everly-drummond-236934_life_ninety-percent-of-the-population-spends_2656508.jpg) > ““Ninety percent of the population spends time imagining their future and forgetting that now is where we live and breathe. The ten percent who live in the present are the ones who have the stories to tell, the ones who live life the way it's meant to be lived.”” [Everly Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everly-drummond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Most imagine the future, forgetting present life; those living now create stories. **In simple terms:** Living now creates stories; dreaming wastes life. Key Takeaway Focus on present to build legacy. Themes Presence Future Storytelling Mindfulness Time Mood philosophical inspirational Type Life:1 Live in the present:1 Live life:1 Ninety percent:0 Time:1 Imagining Future:0 Percent Population:0 Future Forgetting:0 Percent Live:0 When to use this quote - When setting goals, balance vision with present action. Key Concepts Personal growth Narrative Life planning Mental health Legacy Questions to Reflect On - mindful - inspired A Different Perspective What stories are you creating today?;How to avoid over‑planning? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Future Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-forgetting-1100285/) [Imagining Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagining-future-383120/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Live in the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-in-the-present/) [Live life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-life/) [Ninety percent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ninety-percent/) [Percent Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-live-2392668/) [Percent Population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-population-388170/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Workin on the future, forgetting the past. Now if I could make it all last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/workin-on-the-future-forgetting-the-past-now-if-i-could-make-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgiveness is just a key to opening one door and looking forward to the future. Forgetting is just another key to lock the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/forgiveness-is-just-a-key-to-opening-one-door-and-looking-forward-to/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Imagining the future may be more important than analysing the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-k-prahalad/imagining-the-future-may-be-more-important-than-analysing-the-past/) [C. K. Prahalad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-k-prahalad/) > [“Imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-that-future-keeps-you-going-but-you-never-do-it-you-just/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I'm not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they're going to do. I'm just going to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-m-not-going-to-be-one-of-those-people-who-sits-around-talking-about/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The future is unknown and dealing with unknowns is stressful. It is why imagining the future can be so scary for people and why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-johnson/the-future-is-unknown-and-dealing-with-unknowns-is-stressful-it-is/) [Bryan Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-johnson/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“There has to be more to life than just imagining a future for yourself. I can't just wish for the future; I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-silvera/there-has-to-be-more-to-life-than-just-imagining-a-future-for/) [Adam Silvera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-silvera/) > [“Jesus, I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/jesus-i-m-not-going-to-be-one-of-those-people-who-sits-around-talking-2/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [We need to start imagining the future or it will get imagined for us, and the ways that it has been imagined thus far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/we-need-to-start-imagining-the-future-or-it-will-get-imagined-for-us/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Self-control is tightly linked with imagining the future. If you can’t imagine the future, there’s no reason to exhibit any discipline or self-control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-g-buchholz/self-control-is-tightly-linked-with-imagining-the-future-if-you-can-t/) [Todd G. Buchholz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-g-buchholz/) > [I get really excited imagining what we can do in the future with broadband.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-genachowski/i-get-really-excited-imagining-what-we-can-do-in-the-future-with/) [Julius Genachowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-genachowski/) > [“The British academic Richard Schoch, in his book The Secrets of Happiness, put it this way: “Your imagination must, to some extent, be found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/the-british-academic-richard-schoch-in-his-book-the-secrets-of/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [“In fact, this is a world without future. In this world, time is a line that terminates at the present, both in reality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-fact-this-is-a-world-without-future-in-this-world-time-is-a-line/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. 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You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. 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