Past and future Quote by Isak Dinesen
““We fish rest quietly, on all sides supported, within an element which all the time accurately and unfailingly evens itself out. An element which may be said to have taken over our personal experience, in as much as, regardless of individual shape and whether we be flat fish or round fish, our weight and body and calculated according to the quantity of our surroundings which we displace...We run no risks. For our changing of place in existence never creates, or leaves after it, what man calls a way, upon which phenomenon - in reality no phenomenon but an illusion - he will waste inexplicable passionate deliberation. Man, in the end, is alarmed by the idea of time, and unbalanced by incessant wanderings between past and future.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen, 1934
The passage suggests that existence is a balanced, self‑regulating whole where individual concerns are subsumed by the surrounding environment, rendering fear of time and change illusory.
In simple terms: Life is a balanced whole; worries about time are illusion.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the present and trust the surrounding balance.
Themes
balance
existence
time
illusion
acceptance
Mood
contemplative
reflective
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- meditation
- stress reduction
- environmental design
- life coaching
- creative writing
Key Concepts
philosophy
metaphysics
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- How does recognizing a self‑balancing world change your daily choices?
- What role does personal intention play within this balance?
A Different Perspective
The view may overlook personal agency and the need for purposeful action.
![“What actually happened was something absurdly simple and unspectacular: I stopped thinking. [...] Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down. For once, words really failed me. Past and future dropped away. I forgot who and what I was, my name, manhood, animalhood, all that could be…” quote by Douglas Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3cb/douglas-harding-37614_blue-sky_what-actually-happened-was-something-abs_102127.jpg)
