--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't worry about your future lives, past…" description: "\"Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up your shirt! Stand up straight! Go out and do something. Go out and have some fun. Be alive, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg" --- # Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up… ![“Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up your shirt! Stand up straight! Go out and do something. Go out and have some fun. Be alive, change, dissolve, explode!” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg) > “Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up your shirt! Stand up straight! Go out and do something. Go out and have some fun. Be alive, change, dissolve, explode!” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages living fully in the present, embracing action, joy, and transformation without being trapped by past or future concerns. **In simple terms:** Live now, act, enjoy, transform. Key Takeaway Act boldly and enjoy life. Themes presence action joy transformation self‑growth Mood energetic optimistic playful Type motivational inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - daily routine - creative projects - social gatherings - personal challenges Key Concepts existentialism mindfulness energetic living Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance present joy with future responsibility? - What actions make you feel most alive? A Different Perspective May neglect long‑term planning and lead to impulsivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Button ups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/button-ups/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Future life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-life/) [Our future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-future/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-life/) [Past Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-lives/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Your future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-future/) ## Related quotes > [There are future lives. It is not necessary to cram everything into this lifetime. You can enjoy this lifetime, go with the flow, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-future-lives-it-is-not-necessary-to-cram-everything-into/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [That's my sole purpose in life is to sit here today and tell you that you can do this, in any life. You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/that-s-my-sole-purpose-in-life-is-to-sit-here-today-and-tell-you-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I'm still alive to change the world and to do things that are significant. I don't know what they all may be, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vic-mensa/i-m-still-alive-to-change-the-world-and-to-do-things-that-are/) [Vic Mensa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vic-mensa/) > [But change proves that you are still alive. Change often measures our tolerance for folk different from ourselves. Can we accept their languages, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/but-change-proves-that-you-are-still-alive-change-often-measures-our/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [Every day you're alive, you can change the world. It could be for the better or for the worse. It can be big waves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-foreman/every-day-you-re-alive-you-can-change-the-world-it-could-be-for-the/) [Tim Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-foreman/) > [Has it occurred to you that transmigration is at once an explanation and a justification of the evil of the world? If the evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/has-it-occurred-to-you-that-transmigration-is-at-once-an-explanation/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [People never leave, we are always here in our past and future lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-never-leave-we-are-always-here-in-our-past-and-future-lives/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/anyone-who-fights-for-the-future-lives-in-it-today/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We may be living past and future lives at the same time we are living this one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-dillon/we-may-be-living-past-and-future-lives-at-the-same-time-we-are-living/) [Doug Dillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-dillon/) > [“It is tha action that we're taking NOW That will determine our FUTURE lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-arnalsteen/it-is-tha-action-that-we-re-taking-now-that-will-determine-our-future/) Thomas Arnalsteen > [The prospect of future lives in remote heavens as a compensation for the inadequacy of our present lives is a bad tradeoff for losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-harold-cook/the-prospect-of-future-lives-in-remote-heavens-as-a-compensation-for/) [Francis Harold Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-harold-cook/) > [“It is The Action That We are Taking NOW That will Determine our FUTURE Lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-arnalsteen/it-is-the-action-that-we-are-taking-now-that-will-determine-our/) Thomas Arnalsteen > [As we go within the self, we discover that all the voices of our past lives are still there. As we peel ourselves, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-we-go-within-the-self-we-discover-that-all-the-voices-of-our-past/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You have probably had past lives where you were in better stages of mind than you are in now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-have-probably-had-past-lives-where-you-were-in-better-stages-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The Akashic Records are the impressions from all of our past lives that are available within our causal body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-akashic-records-are-the-impressions-from-all-of-our-past-lives/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up your shirt! Stand up straight! Go out and do something. Go out and have some fun. Be alive, change, dissolve, explode!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Lenz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past-lives-button-up-your-shirt/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past-lives-button-up-your-shirt/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/frederick-lenz-8_alive_don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past_340038.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't worry about your future lives, past lives. Button up your shirt! Stand up straight! Go out and do…” — Frederick Lenz", "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": "Frederick Lenz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don't worry about your future lives,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past-lives-button-up-your-shirt/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-t-worry-about-your-future-lives-past-lives-button-up-your-shirt/#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 } } ] } ```