--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While to live in the past and think of…" description: "\"While to live in the past and think of what was good and beautiful about it amounts to a sort of seasoning of the present, the perennial wait for tomor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/isabelle-eberhardt-21732_amount_while-to-live-in-the-past-and-think-of-w_2985138.jpg" --- # While to live in the past and think of what was good and… ![“While to live in the past and think of what was good and beautiful about it amounts to a sort of seasoning of the present, the perennial wait for tomorrow is bound to result in chronic discontent that poisons one's entire outlook.” quote by Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/isabelle-eberhardt-21732_amount_while-to-live-in-the-past-and-think-of-w_2985138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/isabelle-eberhardt-21732_amount_while-to-live-in-the-past-and-think-of-w_2985138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/isabelle-eberhardt-21732_amount_while-to-live-in-the-past-and-think-of-w_2985138.jpg) > “While to live in the past and think of what was good and beautiful about it amounts to a sort of seasoning of the present, the perennial wait for tomorrow is bound to result in chronic discontent that poisons one's entire outlook.” [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dwelling on past joys seasons present, while endless longing for tomorrow breeds chronic dissatisfaction. **In simple terms:** Living in past or future harms present happiness. Key Takeaway Focus on present, appreciate now. Themes nostalgia future‑orientation contentment Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily gratitude - goal setting - reflection practices Key Concepts psychology mindfulness temporal bias Questions to Reflect On - What present moments can you cherish? - How can you turn longing into actionable goals? A Different Perspective Balancing memory and hope can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Discontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent/) [Outlook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outlook/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) ## Related quotes > [“(1) When a situation has become too frustrating, a quandary too persistently insolvable; when dealing with the issue is generating chronic discontent, infringing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/1-when-a-situation-has-become-too-frustrating-a-quandary-too/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Everything must have in it a sharp seasoning of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/everything-must-have-in-it-a-sharp-seasoning-of-truth/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [Men think women should do trivial things on the margins. They think women should be merely a seasoning for a dish. I feel anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-hyesoon/men-think-women-should-do-trivial-things-on-the-margins-they-think/) [Kim Hyesoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-hyesoon/) > [The best seasoning for food is hunger; for drink, thirst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-best-seasoning-for-food-is-hunger-for-drink-thirst/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [People under 75 need more seasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-lutz/people-under-75-need-more-seasoning/) [Bob Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-lutz/) > [Theoretical concepts of music and extended techniques are more like seasoning to me; they're not the meal. I like outside music that still has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-cox/theoretical-concepts-of-music-and-extended-techniques-are-more-like/) Gerard Cox > [Good vinegars come in all shapes, sizes, strengths, and viscosities and are probably my most often used seasoning agent in the kitchen after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimmern/good-vinegars-come-in-all-shapes-sizes-strengths-and-viscosities-and/) [Andrew Zimmern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimmern/) > [Most seasonings are based on family tradition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-puck/most-seasonings-are-based-on-family-tradition/) [Wolfgang Puck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-puck/) > [In Hong Kong, Dallas, or at home —and regardless of whether or not I have been to bed — breakfast is a personal ritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/in-hong-kong-dallas-or-at-home-and-regardless-of-whether-or-not-i/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-yan/soy-sauce-is-really-a-multi-purpose-seasoning/) [Martin Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-yan/) > [He created the flavors! He created the colors. He created it all, and he did it all out of the overflow of his perfections.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-chandler/he-created-the-flavors-he-created-the-colors-he-created-it-all-and-he/) [Matt Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-chandler/) > [It is not consistent with truth that a man should sacrifice half of his stomach only to God-that he should be sober in drinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tertullian/it-is-not-consistent-with-truth-that-a-man-should-sacrifice-half-of/) [Tertullian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tertullian/) > [Wit is better as a seasoning than as a whole dish by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/wit-is-better-as-a-seasoning-than-as-a-whole-dish-by-itself/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The key to a good meal is simplicity and the right seasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-valastro/the-key-to-a-good-meal-is-simplicity-and-the-right-seasoning/) [Buddy Valastro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-valastro/) > [“You don't mince words." "Just garlic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-bauer/you-don-t-mince-words-just-garlic/) [Joan Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-bauer/) ## More by Isabelle Eberhardt > [The way I see it, there is no greater spiritual beauty than fanaticism, of a sort so sincere it can only end in martyrdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/the-way-i-see-it-there-is-no-greater-spiritual-beauty-than-fanaticism/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [For those who know the value of and exquisite taste of solitary freedom (for one is only free when alone), the act of leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/for-those-who-know-the-value-of-and-exquisite-taste-of-solitary/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [Oh if at every moment of our lives we could know the consequences of some of the utterings, thoughts and deeds that seem so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/oh-if-at-every-moment-of-our-lives-we-could-know-the-consequences-of/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [From every ruin, life springs up again and everything that dies is born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/from-every-ruin-life-springs-up-again-and-everything-that-dies-is/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/now-more-than-ever-do-i-realize-that-i-will-never-be-content-with-a/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [Civilization, that great fraud of our times, has promised man that by complicating his existence it would multiply his pleasures. ... Civilization has promised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/civilization-that-great-fraud-of-our-times-has-promised-man-that-by/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [We are, all of us, poor wretches, and those who prefer not to understand this are even worse off than the rest of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/we-are-all-of-us-poor-wretches-and-those-who-prefer-not-to-understand/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [One must use the weapons one finds in one's path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/one-must-use-the-weapons-one-finds-in-one-s-path/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [But the vagrant owns the whole vast earth that ends only at the nonexistent horizon, and his empire is an intangible one, for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/but-the-vagrant-owns-the-whole-vast-earth-that-ends-only-at-the/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [Life on the open road is liberty... to be alone, to have few needs, to be unknown, everywhere a foreigner and at home, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/life-on-the-open-road-is-liberty-to-be-alone-to-have-few-needs-to-be/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/a-nomad-i-will-remain-for-life-in-love-with-distant-and-uncharted/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/i-will-always-be-haunted-by-thoughts-of-a-sun-drenched-elsewhere/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [I think it is impossible for human minds to think of Death as a final, irrevocable end to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/i-think-it-is-impossible-for-human-minds-to-think-of-death-as-a-final/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [I will only ever be drawn to people who suffer from that special and fertile anguish called self-doubt, or the thirst for the ideal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/i-will-only-ever-be-drawn-to-people-who-suffer-from-that-special-and/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [I am full of the sorrow that goes with changes in surroundings, those successive stages of annihilation that slowly lead to the great and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/i-am-full-of-the-sorrow-that-goes-with-changes-in-surroundings-those/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) [Explore all 27 Isabelle Eberhardt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) ## More Amount quotes > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [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/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-amount-you-give-isn-t-important-what-matters-is-what-that-amount/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/) [W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) F. A. 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