--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past and the present are after all so…" description: "\"“The past and the present are after all so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of a material which longs to join, to interp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg" --- # The past and the present are after all so close, so almost… ![“The past and the present are after all so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of a material which longs to join, to interpenetrate, and to become heavy and very small like some of those heavenly bodies scientists tell us of.” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg) > ““The past and the present are after all so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of a material which longs to join, to interpenetrate, and to become heavy and very small like some of those heavenly bodies scientists tell us of.”” [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes time as a thin veil separating past and present, yearning to merge into a unified whole. **In simple terms:** Time feels like a thin barrier that wants to unite past and present. Key Takeaway Recognize the fluidity of temporal experience. Themes philosophy time existence memory unity Mood thoughtful poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - philosophical discourse Key Concepts metaphysics temporal perception continuity Questions to Reflect On - Can we experience past and present simultaneously? - How does this view affect our sense of self? A Different Perspective May be overly abstract for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Divisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divisions/) [Heavenly bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavenly-bodies/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Introspection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introspection/) [Material Longs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/material-longs-5199312/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-present/) [Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientists Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists-tell-3854995/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Artificial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-artificial-5199311/) ## Related quotes > [“The desert seems vast, even endless. And yet scientists tell us that somewhere, even now, there is snow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/the-desert-seems-vast-even-endless-and-yet-scientists-tell-us-that/) [Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/) > [Hillary Clinton is listening to the scientists who tell us that - unless we act boldly and transform our energy system in the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/hillary-clinton-is-listening-to-the-scientists-who-tell-us-that/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [And computers are getting smarter all the time: scientists tell us that soon they will be able to talk to us. (By they I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/and-computers-are-getting-smarter-all-the-time-scientists-tell-us/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“We underestimate the power of science, and overestimate the power of personal observation. 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There are no hardcore divisions anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/you-can-be-vegetarian-and-eat-fish-it-s-your-choice-just-say-i-am/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Christian salvation consists in works. To be saved is to be made holy. To be saved requires our being made part of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/christian-salvation-consists-in-works-to-be-saved-is-to-be-made-holy/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [To be the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four divisions would be an achievement. Gomez, Benitez, there have been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cotto/to-be-the-first-puerto-rican-to-win-a-world-title-in-four-divisions/) [Miguel Cotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cotto/) > [“...every social class has its own pathology...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/every-social-class-has-its-own-pathology/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Occupy Wall Street was a disorganized movement without a clear focus and power base - essential in any successful revolution - but the message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-di-giovanni/occupy-wall-street-was-a-disorganized-movement-without-a-clear-focus/) [Janine di Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-di-giovanni/) > [If women want to ensure themselves a meaningful place in the future, they need to be among those determining how the technology will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-borg/if-women-want-to-ensure-themselves-a-meaningful-place-in-the-future/) [Anita Borg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-borg/) > [The Internet was supposed to bring people together, but it's created big divisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-rogowsky/the-internet-was-supposed-to-bring-people-together-but-it-s-created/) [Scott Rogowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-rogowsky/) > [Our company has been very forward-thinking about digital technology and the opportunity that it gives us. As we move into a world where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sweeney/our-company-has-been-very-forward-thinking-about-digital-technology/) [Anne Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sweeney/) > [The Syrians are better suited to sort out their internal divisions than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/the-syrians-are-better-suited-to-sort-out-their-internal-divisions/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) ## More by Iris Murdoch > [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [One doesn't have to get anywhere in a marriage. It's not a public conveyance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/one-doesn-t-have-to-get-anywhere-in-a-marriage-it-s-not-a-public/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I think being a woman is like being Irish... Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-think-being-a-woman-is-like-being-irish-everyone-says-you-re/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-is-the-final-cunning-of-the-human-soul-which-would-rather-do/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [The sending of a letter constitutes a magical grasp upon the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-sending-of-a-letter-constitutes-a-magical-grasp-upon-the-future/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [emotions really exist at the bottom of the personality or at the top. in the middle they are acted. this is why all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/emotions-really-exist-at-the-bottom-of-the-personality-or-at-the-top/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I have used the word "attention," which I borrow from Simone Weil, to express the idea of a just and loving gaze directed upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-have-used-the-word-attention-which-i-borrow-from-simone-weil-to/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/starting-a-novel-is-opening-a-door-on-a-misty-landscape-you-can-still/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art and morality are, with certain provisos…one. Their essence is the same. The essence of both of them is love. Love is the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-and-morality-are-with-certain-provisos-one-their-essence-is-the/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [being homosexual doesn't determine a man's whole character any more than being heterosexual does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/being-homosexual-doesn-t-determine-a-man-s-whole-character-any-more/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [All artists dream of a silence which they must enter, as some creatures return to the sea to spawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/all-artists-dream-of-a-silence-which-they-must-enter-as-some/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“Oh if only I could take my mother away and never know of these things again. But it was impossible, the machine would go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/oh-if-only-i-could-take-my-mother-away-and-never-know-of-these-things/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We defend ourselves by descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-defend-ourselves-by-descriptions-and-tame-the-world-by-generalizing/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I'm sorry I was awful. I'm so full of terrors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-m-sorry-i-was-awful-i-m-so-full-of-terrors/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continuous-sense-of-failure-i-am/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) [Explore all 306 Iris Murdoch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## More Divisions quotes > [The Syrians are better suited to sort out their internal divisions than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/the-syrians-are-better-suited-to-sort-out-their-internal-divisions/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [Our company has been very forward-thinking about digital technology and the opportunity that it gives us. As we move into a world where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sweeney/our-company-has-been-very-forward-thinking-about-digital-technology/) [Anne Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sweeney/) > [The Internet was supposed to bring people together, but it's created big divisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-rogowsky/the-internet-was-supposed-to-bring-people-together-but-it-s-created/) [Scott Rogowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-rogowsky/) > [If women want to ensure themselves a meaningful place in the future, they need to be among those determining how the technology will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-borg/if-women-want-to-ensure-themselves-a-meaningful-place-in-the-future/) [Anita Borg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-borg/) > [Occupy Wall Street was a disorganized movement without a clear focus and power base - essential in any successful revolution - but the message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-di-giovanni/occupy-wall-street-was-a-disorganized-movement-without-a-clear-focus/) [Janine di Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-di-giovanni/) > [“...every social class has its own pathology...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/every-social-class-has-its-own-pathology/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [To be the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four divisions would be an achievement. Gomez, Benitez, there have been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cotto/to-be-the-first-puerto-rican-to-win-a-world-title-in-four-divisions/) [Miguel Cotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cotto/) > [Christian salvation consists in works. To be saved is to be made holy. To be saved requires our being made part of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/christian-salvation-consists-in-works-to-be-saved-is-to-be-made-holy/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [You can be vegetarian and eat fish. It's your choice, just say: 'I am what I am.' There are no hardcore divisions anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/you-can-be-vegetarian-and-eat-fish-it-s-your-choice-just-say-i-am/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Race and class are the easiest divisions. It's very stupid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/race-and-class-are-the-easiest-divisions-it-s-very-stupid/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [And instead of getting a pepper-and-salt effect, we find very clear and sharp divisions between the dialects of the United States, which are getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-labov/and-instead-of-getting-a-pepper-and-salt-effect-we-find-very-clear/) [William Labov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-labov/) > [The Pope? How many divisions has he got?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/the-pope-how-many-divisions-has-he-got/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Ethnic divisions can definitely be exacerbated by a lack of natural resources, but those tensions become violent when people manipulate them for their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/ethnic-divisions-can-definitely-be-exacerbated-by-a-lack-of-natural/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [Flipping through the 'Toronto Star' one day in 2008, I noticed a piece about a phenomenal boxer from the Philippines who had won several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hill/flipping-through-the-toronto-star-one-day-in-2008-i-noticed-a-piece/) [Dan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hill/) > [To say 'radical feminist' is only a way of indicating that I believe the sexual caste system is a root of race and class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/to-say-radical-feminist-is-only-a-way-of-indicating-that-i-believe/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Browse all 49 Divisions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divisions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The past and the present are after all so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of a material which longs to join, to interpenetrate, and to become heavy and very small like some of those heavenly bodies scientists tell us of.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iris Murdoch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-so-close-so-almost-one-as-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Divisions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-so-close-so-almost-one-as-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/iris-murdoch-993_divisions_the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-s_1447988.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The past and the present are after all so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of…” — Iris Murdoch", "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": "Iris Murdoch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The past and the present are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-so-close-so-almost-one-as-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-past-and-the-present-are-after-all-so-close-so-almost-one-as-if/#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 } } ] } ```