--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past is a curious thing. It's with…" description: "\"“The past is a curious thing. It's with you all the time,”\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a6/george-orwell-57_curiosity_the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-yo_3203733.jpg" --- # The past is a curious thing. It's with you all the time, ![“The past is a curious thing. It's with you all the time,” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a6/george-orwell-57_curiosity_the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-yo_3203733.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a6/george-orwell-57_curiosity_the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-yo_3203733.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a6/george-orwell-57_curiosity_the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-yo_3203733.jpg) > ““The past is a curious thing. It's with you all the time,”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The past is ever‑present, influencing thoughts and actions continuously. **In simple terms:** The past stays with you. Key Takeaway Learn from history to shape present choices. Themes history influence awareness Mood reflective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - decision making - education - personal growth Key Concepts memory continuity identity Questions to Reflect On - What past experience guides you now? - How can you balance past lessons with future goals? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on past may hinder forward movement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The past is a curious thing. It's with you all the time. I suppose an hour never passes without your thinking of things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-past-is-a-curious-thing-it-s-with-you-all-the-time-i-suppose-an/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [The Past is such a curious Creature To look her in the Face A Transport may receipt us Or a Disgrace-.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-past-is-such-a-curious-creature-to-look-her-in-the-face-a/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [I was thinking what a curious thing love is; only a sentiment, and yet it has power to make fools of men and slaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/i-was-thinking-what-a-curious-thing-love-is-only-a-sentiment-and-yet/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [“It is a curious thing, watching a strong man fall to pieces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/it-is-a-curious-thing-watching-a-strong-man-fall-to-pieces/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin; but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever say in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-in-wonderland/well-i-ve-often-seen-a-cat-without-a-grin-but-a-grin-without-a-cat-it/) [Alice In Wonderland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-in-wonderland/) > [An idea is a curious thing. It will not work unless you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-whitall-smith/an-idea-is-a-curious-thing-it-will-not-work-unless-you-do/) [Hannah Whitall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-whitall-smith/) > [It is a curious thing that people only ask if you are enjoying yourself when you aren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/it-is-a-curious-thing-that-people-only-ask-if-you-are-enjoying/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) > [I am a sort of collector of religions: and the curious thing is that I find I can believe in them all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-am-a-sort-of-collector-of-religions-and-the-curious-thing-is-that-i/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The slowness of one section of the world about adopting the valuable ideas of another section of it is a curious thing and unaccountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-slowness-of-one-section-of-the-world-about-adopting-the-valuable/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The human mind is a curious thing. It can take just so much and no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/the-human-mind-is-a-curious-thing-it-can-take-just-so-much-and-no-more/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:/ To make a poet black, and bid him sing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/countee-cullen/yet-do-i-marvel-at-this-curious-thing-to-make-a-poet-black-and-bid/) [Countee Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/countee-cullen/) > [The curious thing about the Ready-Made is that I've never been able to arrive at a definition or explanation that fully satisfies me. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-curious-thing-about-the-ready-made-is-that-i-ve-never-been-able/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I am the most curious of all to see what will be the next thing that I will do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-am-the-most-curious-of-all-to-see-what-will-be-the-next-thing-that/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [It is a curious thing, but I have been right in everything I have done and said in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-mountbatten/it-is-a-curious-thing-but-i-have-been-right-in-everything-i-have-done/) [Lord Mountbatten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-mountbatten/) > [“Hope is a curious thing. You always seem to loose it when you most need it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-b-mcilrath/hope-is-a-curious-thing-you-always-seem-to-loose-it-when-you-most/) P.B. McIlrath ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Curiosity quotes > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Metal makes everything magical. Just ask a unicorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybrina-durant/metal-makes-everything-magical-just-ask-a-unicorn/) [Sybrina Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybrina-durant/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-four-cs-of-making-dreams-come-true-curiosity-courage-consistency/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Curiosity Can Kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anison/curiosity-can-kill/) [Anison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anison/) > [“So curious you must be. Like little calves poking their heads through the fence with big eyes and a headful of curiosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/so-curious-you-must-be-like-little-calves-poking-their-heads-through/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [ “\[T\]he question "What is everything?" has no meaning, even though it seems to be profound. \[...\] The point is, perhaps, that I am not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/t-he-question-what-is-everything-has-no-meaning-even-though-it-seems/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Be curious not judge mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/be-curious-not-judge-mental/) Unknow > [There is nothing so carking as the pangs of unsatisfied curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/there-is-nothing-so-carking-as-the-pangs-of-unsatisfied-curiosity/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Curiosity is the essence of human existence. 'Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'... I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/curiosity-is-the-essence-of-human-existence-who-are-we-where-are-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes curiosity is a poison, not only for those who drink it but for everyone around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-norman-lippert/sometimes-curiosity-is-a-poison-not-only-for-those-who-drink-it-but/) [G. Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it sure has earned a lot of people graduate degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-irving/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-sure-has-earned-a-lot-of/) Robyn Irving [Browse all 2,721 Curiosity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The past is a curious thing. 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