--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One must always maintain one's connection…" description: "\"One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.\" — Gaston Bachelard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png" --- # One must always maintain one's connection to the past and… ![“One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.” quote by Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png) > “One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.” [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We must stay connected to history while continuously moving beyond it. **In simple terms:** Balance past connection with forward motion. Key Takeaway Honor history but keep evolving. Themes history progress balance growth Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - creative work - personal development - cultural studies Key Concepts memory innovation Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay rooted yet progressive? - When is it okay to let go of tradition? A Different Perspective Clinging too tightly can hinder innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Latin Americans glorify their past so ceaselessly that they make it almost impossible to advocate change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/latin-americans-glorify-their-past-so-ceaselessly-that-they-make-it/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it. To remain in touch with the past requires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connection-to-the-past-and-yet/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [I think all in all, one thing a lot of plays seem to be saying is that we need to, as black Americans, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-think-all-in-all-one-thing-a-lot-of-plays-seem-to-be-saying-is-that/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [In short, chronological connectivity puts us in touch with the holy. It is at once humbling and exhilarating. I say this as someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/in-short-chronological-connectivity-puts-us-in-touch-with-the-holy-it/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [As little boys, my brother and I used to spend hours with my grandmother, asking her about the details of how she came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-dessner/as-little-boys-my-brother-and-i-used-to-spend-hours-with-my/) [Bryce Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-dessner/) > [“Grandmamma had been the last connection to our past. I had understood her as some referent moral authority to whom we paid no heed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/grandmamma-had-been-the-last-connection-to-our-past-i-had-understood/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“I believe that every contact between people makes them part of society. And that goes beyond the present moment. Things happen as a result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michiko-aoyama/i-believe-that-every-contact-between-people-makes-them-part-of/) Michiko Aoyama > [Everything without exception which is of value in me comes from somewhere other than myself, not as a gift but as a loan which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/everything-without-exception-which-is-of-value-in-me-comes-from/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schickel/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-pushes-us-ceaselessly-through-the/) [Richard Schickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schickel/) > [“She wished the days and months ahead of her would end. But the rest of her life continued to present itself, time ceaselessly proliferating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/she-wished-the-days-and-months-ahead-of-her-would-end-but-the-rest-of/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Love is an action you must repeat ceaselessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davidson/love-is-an-action-you-must-repeat-ceaselessly/) [Andrew Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davidson/) > [“Each blade of grass, each little bug, ant, golden bee, knows its way amazingly; being without reason, they witness to the divine mystery, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/each-blade-of-grass-each-little-bug-ant-golden-bee-knows-its-way/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The fingers of your thoughts are molding your face ceaselessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-reznikoff/the-fingers-of-your-thoughts-are-molding-your-face-ceaselessly/) [Charles Reznikoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-reznikoff/) > [Good people strengthen themselves ceaselessly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/good-people-strengthen-themselves-ceaselessly/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“Each instant was different and new and unrepeatable. That was the very nature of time, ceaselessly realizing itself, in every life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-aira/each-instant-was-different-and-new-and-unrepeatable-that-was-the-very/) [César Aira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sar-aira/) ## More by Gaston Bachelard > [Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/dreaming-by-the-river-i-dedicated-my-imagination-to-water-to-clear/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If we did not have a feminine being within us, how would we rest ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-we-did-not-have-a-feminine-being-within-us-how-would-we-rest/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The image can only be studied through the image, by dreaming images as they gather in reverie. It is a non-sense to claim to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-image-can-only-be-studied-through-the-image-by-dreaming-images-as/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If there is any realm where distinction is especially difficult, it is the realm of childhood memories, the realm of beloved images harbored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-there-is-any-realm-where-distinction-is-especially-difficult-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In scientific thought, the concept functions all the better for being cut off from all background images. In its full exercise, the scientific concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-scientific-thought-the-concept-functions-all-the-better-for-being/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [It is through the intentionality of poetic imagination that the poet's soul discovers the opening of consciousness common to all true poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/it-is-through-the-intentionality-of-poetic-imagination-that-the-poet/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In writing, you discover interior sonorities in words. Dipthongs sound differently beneath the pen. One hears them with their sounds divorced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-writing-you-discover-interior-sonorities-in-words-dipthongs-sound/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Here we are at the very core of the thesis we wish to defend in the present essay: reverie is under the sign of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/here-we-are-at-the-very-core-of-the-thesis-we-wish-to-defend-in-the/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [There are children who will leave a game to go and be bored in a corner of the garret. How often have I wished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-are-children-who-will-leave-a-game-to-go-and-be-bored-in-a/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Ideas are refined and multiplied in the commerce of minds. In their splendor, images effect a very simple communion of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/ideas-are-refined-and-multiplied-in-the-commerce-of-minds-in-their/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The poetic image is a sudden salience on the surface of the psyche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-poetic-image-is-a-sudden-salience-on-the-surface-of-the-psyche/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In our view any awareness is an increment to consciousness, an added light, a reinforcement of psychic coherence. Its swiftness or instantaneity can hide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-our-view-any-awareness-is-an-increment-to-consciousness-an-added/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Imagination is a tree. It has the integrative virtues of a tree. It is root and boughs. It lives between earth and sky. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/imagination-is-a-tree-it-has-the-integrative-virtues-of-a-tree-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Two half philosophers will probably never a whole metaphysician make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/two-half-philosophers-will-probably-never-a-whole-metaphysician-make/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Irony gives us, at little expense, the impression that we are experienced psychologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/irony-gives-us-at-little-expense-the-impression-that-we-are/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) [Explore all 166 Gaston Bachelard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## More Past quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [You can think about it, wonder what went wrong, over analyze the situation but the fact remains... it's the past, just let it go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/you-can-think-about-it-wonder-what-went-wrong-over-analyze-the/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [The Iranian people have a proud past. They merit a great future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/the-iranian-people-have-a-proud-past-they-merit-a-great-future/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Above Coblentz almost every mountain has a ruin and a legend. One feels everywhere the spirit of the past, and its stirring recollections come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/above-coblentz-almost-every-mountain-has-a-ruin-and-a-legend-one/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Right before the pandemic, 'Past Lives' came across to me as something to read and possibly put myself on tape for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-faist/right-before-the-pandemic-past-lives-came-across-to-me-as-something/) [Mike Faist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-faist/) > [I nibbled my lower lip. "If you could see into my past just by touching my back, you'd have a hard time resisting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-nibbled-my-lower-lip-if-you-could-see-into-my-past-just-by-touching/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-trudeau/liberalism-is-the-philosophy-for-our-time-because-it-does-not-try-to/) [Pierre Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-trudeau/) > [I have a way to photograph. You work with space, you have a camera, you have a frame, and then a fraction of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastiao-salgado/i-have-a-way-to-photograph-you-work-with-space-you-have-a-camera-you/) [Sebastiao Salgado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastiao-salgado/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/voting-labour-in-the-past-hasn-t-protected-scotland-against-tory/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) [Browse all 19,844 Past quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gaston Bachelard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connection-to-the-past-and-yet-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Past" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connection-to-the-past-and-yet-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/gaston-bachelard-2318_past_one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connectio_3118082.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.” — Gaston Bachelard", "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": "Gaston Bachelard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One must always maintain one's connection...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connection-to-the-past-and-yet-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/one-must-always-maintain-one-s-connection-to-the-past-and-yet-2/#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 } } ] } ```