--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future turns out to be something that…" description: "\"The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d04/lewis-h-lapham-7190_arrivals_the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-tha_60430.jpg" --- # The future turns out to be something that you make instead… ![“The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is it any further away than the next sentence, the next best guess, the next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a…” quote by Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d04/lewis-h-lapham-7190_arrivals_the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-tha_60430.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d04/lewis-h-lapham-7190_arrivals_the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-tha_60430.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d04/lewis-h-lapham-7190_arrivals_the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-tha_60430.jpg) > “The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is it any further away than the next sentence, the next best guess, the next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a masterpiece. The future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet of paper, and if you have the courage of your own thought and your own observation, you can make of it what you will.” [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The future is not a predetermined destiny waiting to be discovered; it is a mal you actively shape with imagination and deliberate action. **In simple terms:** You create tomorrow, not merely find it. Key Takeaway Agency defines destiny. Themes agency creativity self-determination possibility impermanence Mood inspired determined optimistic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - artistic creation - entrepreneurial ventures - personal growth - strategic decision‑making Key Concepts future as canvas courage of thought observation personal agency Practical Applications - designing a life roadmap - innovating products or services Questions to Reflect On - How does your daily mindset influence the shape of your future? - What habits empower you to actively craft outcomes? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Empty canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-canvas/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Masterpiece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masterpiece/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet of paper, and if you have the courage of your own thought and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-future-is-an-empty-canvas-or-a-blank-sheet-of-paper-and-if-you/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [“Imagine your life is a big canvas. Picture it in your mind and think about the beginnning of your painting of life.You're fourteen yours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-biro/imagine-your-life-is-a-big-canvas-picture-it-in-your-mind-and-think/) [Stephen Biro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-biro/) > [Every future turns into the past. The richness of your past dictates what you are today. It's not your decision what you are today,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/every-future-turns-into-the-past-the-richness-of-your-past-dictates/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [“Once in a while, however, the future turns out to be very different from the past. It’s at these times that accurate forecasts would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-marks/once-in-a-while-however-the-future-turns-out-to-be-very-different/) [Howard Marks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-marks/) > [“I thought I had a handle on my future. But the future, it turns out, is not a tote bag.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-thought-i-had-a-handle-on-my-future-but-the-future-it-turns-out-is/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Writing is the basis of all, because creating something that didn't even exist before is like taking an empty canvass. It is a wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-reiner/writing-is-the-basis-of-all-because-creating-something-that-didn-t/) [Carl Reiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-reiner/) > [“I feel like I'm in a film about a struggling artist who keeps getting up at all hours of the night to look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-thewlis/i-feel-like-i-m-in-a-film-about-a-struggling-artist-who-keeps-getting/) [David Thewlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-thewlis/) > [Rihanna is so into rock, and she gives me an empty canvas to work with. I get to do wild solos and crunch up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuno-bettencourt/rihanna-is-so-into-rock-and-she-gives-me-an-empty-canvas-to-work-with/) [Nuno Bettencourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuno-bettencourt/) > [“It wasn't like America, where we scraped the earth clean, thinking we could start again every time. We hadn't learned yet, there was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/it-wasn-t-like-america-where-we-scraped-the-earth-clean-thinking-we/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [Life in itself is an empty canvas; it becomes whatsoever you paint on it. You can paint misery, you can paint bliss. This freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/life-in-itself-is-an-empty-canvas-it-becomes-whatsoever-you-paint-on/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-jam/sheets-of-empty-canvas-untouched-sheets-of-clay/) [Pearl Jam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-jam/) > [“So long as a canvas is empty its potential is infinite… The empty canvas can become a gateway into the landscape of nightmares or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/so-long-as-a-canvas-is-empty-its-potential-is-infinite-the-empty/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“Every piece of art starts as an empty canvas, a lump of clay, or a mixture of fabrics and colors. It's all raw, stripped-down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-mooney/every-piece-of-art-starts-as-an-empty-canvas-a-lump-of-clay-or-a/) Mick Mooney > [An empty canvas, apparently really empty, that says nothing and is without significance – almost dull, in fact – in reality, is crammed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wassily-kandinsky/an-empty-canvas-apparently-really-empty-that-says-nothing-and-is/) [Wassily Kandinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wassily-kandinsky/) > [Life is an empty canvas- We've to paint it every Moment of our life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-laren/life-is-an-empty-canvas-we-ve-to-paint-it-every-moment-of-our-life/) elvis laren ## More by Lewis H. Lapham > [The figure of the enthusiast who has just discovered jogging or a new way to fix tofu can be said to stand or, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-figure-of-the-enthusiast-who-has-just-discovered-jogging-or-a-new/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The genius of capitalism consists precisely in its lack of morality. Unless he is rich enough to hire his own choir, a capitalist is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-genius-of-capitalism-consists-precisely-in-its-lack-of-morality/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [If you wear a suit, you can talk to anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/if-you-wear-a-suit-you-can-talk-to-anybody/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [We might make a public moan in the newspapers about the decay of conscience, but in private conversation, no matter what crimes a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/we-might-make-a-public-moan-in-the-newspapers-about-the-decay-of/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [ \[For American consumer society\], the country's reserves of ignorance constitute a natural resource as precious as the Mississippi River or the long-lost herds of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/for-american-consumer-society-the-country-s-reserves-of-ignorance/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [A certain kind of rich man afflicted with the symptoms of moral dandyism sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it isn't enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-certain-kind-of-rich-man-afflicted-with-the-symptoms-of-moral/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [His administration apparently means to define itself as a television program instead of a government...I don't know if it can please both its sponsors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/his-administration-apparently-means-to-define-itself-as-a-television/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [In the garden of tabloid delight, there is always a clean towel and another song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/in-the-garden-of-tabloid-delight-there-is-always-a-clean-towel-and/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/to-the-united-states-the-third-world-often-takes-the-form-of-a-black/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [About the presence of death and dying I don't remember the society in the 1950s being so skittish as it has since become. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/about-the-presence-of-death-and-dying-i-don-t-remember-the-society-in/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Nobody suffers the pain of birth or the anguish of loving a child in order for presidents to make wars, for governments to feed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/nobody-suffers-the-pain-of-birth-or-the-anguish-of-loving-a-child-in/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The leading cause of death is birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-leading-cause-of-death-is-birth/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Power broken into a thousand pieces can be hidden and disowned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/power-broken-into-a-thousand-pieces-can-be-hidden-and-disowned/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [It is no accident that banks resemble temples, preferably Greek, and that the supplicants who come to perform the rites of deposit and withdrawal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/it-is-no-accident-that-banks-resemble-temples-preferably-greek-and/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) [Explore all 93 Lewis H. Lapham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) ## More Arrivals quotes > [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I see ... a pile of skulls and bones. For the first time since my arrival, what I see before me is too painful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dith-pran/i-see-a-pile-of-skulls-and-bones-for-the-first-time-since-my-arrival/) [Dith Pran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dith-pran/) > [The beauty of inspiration for me is that you can't predict when it's coming. I like that it just pops up out of nowhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scout-niblett/the-beauty-of-inspiration-for-me-is-that-you-can-t-predict-when-it-s/) [Scout Niblett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scout-niblett/) > [“When you are waiting for a train, don't keep perpetually looking to see if it is coming. The time of its arrival is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-waiting-for-a-train-don-t-keep-perpetually-looking-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/upon-my-arrival-in-the-united-states-the-religious-aspect-of-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Unconscious of your story, you are in its grasp; but with consciousness, an alchemical process begins: The solidity of the complex dissolves and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-zweig/unconscious-of-your-story-you-are-in-its-grasp-but-with-consciousness/) [Connie Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-zweig/) > [Life is a continual process of arrival into who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-popova/life-is-a-continual-process-of-arrival-into-who-we-are/) [Maria Popova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-popova/) > [Prison is a severe and terrible punishment; but for me, thanks to Arthur Balfour, this was not so. I was much cheered on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/prison-is-a-severe-and-terrible-punishment-but-for-me-thanks-to/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Death in Somalia seldom bothers to announce its arrival. In fact, death calls with the arrogance of a guest confident on receiving a warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuruddin-farah/death-in-somalia-seldom-bothers-to-announce-its-arrival-in-fact-death/) [Nuruddin Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuruddin-farah/) > [The arrival of Ade Akinbiyi gave everyone a lift. He's a natural born goalscorer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-francis/the-arrival-of-ade-akinbiyi-gave-everyone-a-lift-he-s-a-natural-born/) Trevor Francis > [many writers believe in arrival without leaving home. They believe in talent but not skill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-delton/many-writers-believe-in-arrival-without-leaving-home-they-believe-in/) [Judy Delton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-delton/) > [We become, after the arrival of the printing press in general, more attentive more attuned to contemplative ways of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/we-become-after-the-arrival-of-the-printing-press-in-general-more/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [Our tomorrows must be met at the time of their arrival... with the HOPE they are as BEAUTIFUL as today!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-peterson/our-tomorrows-must-be-met-at-the-time-of-their-arrival-with-the-hope/) Joe Peterson > [The observations that have developed over the years have given us perspective about where we fit in. We are newcomers, really recent arrivals on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/the-observations-that-have-developed-over-the-years-have-given-us/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) Browse all 173 Arrivals quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant or a band, nor is it any further away than the next sentence, the next best guess, the next sketch for the painting of a life portrait that might become a masterpiece. The future is an empty canvas or a blank sheet of paper, and if you have the courage of your own thought and your own observation, you can make of it what you will.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis H. 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