--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let those who hanker after the past…" description: "\"Let those who hanker after the past return to the past! Let those who want to leave the world leave the world! Let those who want to ascend to heaven d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/lu-xun-12813_body_let-those-who-hanker-after-the-past-retu_2125614.jpg" --- # Let those who hanker after the past return to the past!… ![“Let those who hanker after the past return to the past! Let those who want to leave the world leave the world! Let those who want to ascend to heaven do so! Let those whose souls want to leave their bodies expire quickly! The earth today should be inhabited by man with a firm hold on the present…” quote by Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/lu-xun-12813_body_let-those-who-hanker-after-the-past-retu_2125614.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/lu-xun-12813_body_let-those-who-hanker-after-the-past-retu_2125614.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/lu-xun-12813_body_let-those-who-hanker-after-the-past-retu_2125614.jpg) > “Let those who hanker after the past return to the past! Let those who want to leave the world leave the world! Let those who want to ascend to heaven do so! Let those whose souls want to leave their bodies expire quickly! The earth today should be inhabited by man with a firm hold on the present, a firm hold on the earth.” [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emphasizes living fully in the present, rejecting clinging to past, future, or escapist fantasies. **In simple terms:** Live now, stay grounded. Key Takeaway Focus on present reality. Themes presence reality mindfulness Mood thoughtful grounded Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily work - relationships - health decisions - stress management Key Concepts existentialism temporal focus Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor the past without being trapped by it? - What does “firm hold on the earth” mean to you? A Different Perspective May ignore valuable lessons from history or future planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Existential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) [Firm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firm/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Heaven Let](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven-let-306152/) [Hold Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-earth-781634/) [Leave Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-bodies-1701274/) [Leave The World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-the-world/) [Let Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-souls-867176/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Souls Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls-want-2292037/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Only in the eyes of God can light the way and heat our hearts…When we leave our bodies behind, pride and everything we spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-in-the-eyes-of-god-can-light-the-way-and-heat-our-hearts-when-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Jimmy looked at me and said, “I think you should stay in Chicago for a while.” And what a town that turned out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brandt/jimmy-looked-at-me-and-said-i-think-you-should-stay-in-chicago-for-a/) [Charles Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brandt/) > [“maybe genocide doesn’t always leave bodies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/maybe-genocide-doesn-t-always-leave-bodies/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/we-hold-upon-this-earth-the-place-of-god-almighty/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Anything important has to be almost invisible. And underrated. 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All we have is a life tenancy-with a full repairing lease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/no-generation-has-a-free-hold-on-this-earth-all-we-have-is-a-life/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [You will say good-bye for all the right reasons. You're tired of living in wait for his apocalypse. You have your own fight on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-bank/you-will-say-good-bye-for-all-the-right-reasons-you-re-tired-of/) [Melissa Bank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-bank/) > [“Give me your hand, a human hand, so that you can hold me to the earth with it, for whirling veins of fire swoop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/give-me-your-hand-a-human-hand-so-that-you-can-hold-me-to-the-earth/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) > [Let us eat, drink and satisfy our coarse appetites, but let us keep our souls sacred and apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/let-us-eat-drink-and-satisfy-our-coarse-appetites-but-let-us-keep-our/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“That illusion of a world so shaped that it echoes every groan, of human beings so tied together by common needs and fears that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/that-illusion-of-a-world-so-shaped-that-it-echoes-every-groan-of/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [ “Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own." \[ The Sick Chamber ( The New Monthly Magazine , August 1830)\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/books-let-us-into-their-souls-and-lay-open-to-us-the-secrets-of-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“Let's go be Sufi's. Roam the planet spinning like a child’s toy, spreading truth and wisdom, spreading love. Let us go be animals, acting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-marie/let-s-go-be-sufi-s-roam-the-planet-spinning-like-a-child-s-toy/) [Susan Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-marie/) ## More by Lu Xun > [The ability to forget the past enables people to free themselves gradually from the pain they once suffered; but it also often makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-ability-to-forget-the-past-enables-people-to-free-themselves/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Hope is a path on the mountainside. At first there is no path. But then there are people passing that way. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/hope-is-a-path-on-the-mountainside-at-first-there-is-no-path-but-then/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [It is in the nature of things that some people should be unlucky enough to get their heads chopped off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/it-is-in-the-nature-of-things-that-some-people-should-be-unlucky/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [The most painful thing in life is to wake up from a dream and find no way out. Dreamers are fortunate people. If no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-to-wake-up-from-a-dream-and-find-no/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [I entreat fresh visions from the painters. Be lavish with your vermilion to portray the mountains in the spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/i-entreat-fresh-visions-from-the-painters-be-lavish-with-your/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Though science has given us many marvels, it has also spoiled many of our pleasant dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/though-science-has-given-us-many-marvels-it-has-also-spoiled-many-of/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Creation, even when it is a mere outpouring from the heart, wishes to find a public. By definition, creation is sociable. Yet it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/creation-even-when-it-is-a-mere-outpouring-from-the-heart-wishes-to/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [“With the weight of four thousand years of cannibalism bearing down upon me, even if I was once innocent how can I now face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/with-the-weight-of-four-thousand-years-of-cannibalism-bearing-down/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [True fighters dare face the sorrows of humanity, and look unflinchingly at bloodshed. What sorrow and joy are theirs! But the Creator's common device…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/true-fighters-dare-face-the-sorrows-of-humanity-and-look/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [I could not blot out hope, for hope belongs to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/i-could-not-blot-out-hope-for-hope-belongs-to-the-future/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Hope is like a path in the countryside. Originally, there is nothing - but as people walk this way again and again, a path…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/hope-is-like-a-path-in-the-countryside-originally-there-is-nothing/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Whoever thinks he is objective must already be half drunk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/whoever-thinks-he-is-objective-must-already-be-half-drunk/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [When a great man has become petrified, and everyone begins to proclaim his greatness, he has already turned into a puppet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/when-a-great-man-has-become-petrified-and-everyone-begins-to-proclaim/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Men who have not known the horror of death are not likely to be awed by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/men-who-have-not-known-the-horror-of-death-are-not-likely-to-be-awed/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) > [Like students going to school, the planes on their bombing missions fly over Beijing each morning. And each time I hear their engines attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lu-xun/like-students-going-to-school-the-planes-on-their-bombing-missions/) [Lu Xun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) [Explore all 49 Lu Xun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lu-xun/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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