--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He who lives in the present lives in…" description: "\"He who lives in the present lives in eternity.\" — Ludwig Wittgenstein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png" --- # He who lives in the present lives in eternity. ![“He who lives in the present lives in eternity.” quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png) > “He who lives in the present lives in eternity.” [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living fully in the present equates to timeless existence. **In simple terms:** Present focus creates timelessness. Key Takeaway Practice present-moment awareness. Themes presence eternity mindfulness Mood calm reflective Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - daily routines - creative work Key Concepts temporal philosophy existentialism consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How does present focus affect your goals? - Can you balance present and future? A Different Perspective Present focus can ignore future planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Live in the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-in-the-present/) [Present life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-life/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [If one understands eternity as timelessness, and not as an unending timespan, then whoever lives in the present lives for all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/if-one-understands-eternity-as-timelessness-and-not-as-an-unending/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Nobody really lives in the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-rendell/nobody-really-lives-in-the-present/) [Ruth Rendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-rendell/) > [If you are at peace, you are living in the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-are-at-peace-you-are-living-in-the-present/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“Crazy people will always be present in our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-bechtle/crazy-people-will-always-be-present-in-our-lives/) [Mike Bechtle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-bechtle/) > [“To dream the future is much more better than to regret the past. But the best of all, to live in the present life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/to-dream-the-future-is-much-more-better-than-to-regret-the-past-but/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [How did it happen that now he could see everything so clearly. Something had given him leave to live in the present. Not once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/how-did-it-happen-that-now-he-could-see-everything-so-clearly/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well and serenely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/tomorrow-is-a-new-day-you-shall-begin-it-well-and-serenely/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/finish-each-day-and-be-done-with-it-you-have-done-what-you-could-some-3/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life is what happens to you while you're planning on doing something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/life-is-what-happens-to-you-while-you-re-planning-on-doing-something/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Concentrate the mind on the present moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/concentrate-the-mind-on-the-present-moment/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Eternity He who binds himself to a joy Does the winged life destroy But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-daumal/eternity-he-who-binds-himself-to-a-joy-does-the-winged-life-destroy/) [René Daumal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-daumal/) > [The life of a wise man is most of all extemporaneous, for he lives out of an eternity which includes all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-life-of-a-wise-man-is-most-of-all-extemporaneous-for-he-lives-out/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/he-who-binds-to-himself-a-joy-does-the-winged-life-destroy-but-he-who/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [That every man after the life in the world lives to eternity, is evident from this, that man is then spiritual, and no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/that-every-man-after-the-life-in-the-world-lives-to-eternity-is/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) > [“Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/obsessed-people-orient-their-lives-around-eternity-they-are-not-fixed/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) ## More by Ludwig Wittgenstein > [“But some of the greatest achievements in philosophy could only be compared with taking up some books which seemed to belong together, and putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/but-some-of-the-greatest-achievements-in-philosophy-could-only-be/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [What can be shown, cannot be said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/what-can-be-shown-cannot-be-said/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“This is connected with the conception of naming as a process that is, so to speak, occult. Naming seems to be a \_strange\_ connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/this-is-connected-with-the-conception-of-naming-as-a-process-that-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [If a lion could talk, we could not understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/if-a-lion-could-talk-we-could-not-understand-him/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [White must be the lightest color in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/white-must-be-the-lightest-color-in-a-picture/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Freud's fanciful pseudo-explanations (precisely because they are brilliant) perform a disservice. Now any ass has these pictures available to use in "explaining" symptoms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/freud-s-fanciful-pseudo-explanations-precisely-because-they-are/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [In order to be able to set a limit to thought, we should have to find both sides of the limit thinkable (i.e. we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/in-order-to-be-able-to-set-a-limit-to-thought-we-should-have-to-find/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [A teacher who can show good, or indeed astounding results while he is teaching, is still not on that account a good teacher, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/a-teacher-who-can-show-good-or-indeed-astounding-results-while-he-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [One often makes a remark and only later sees how true it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/one-often-makes-a-remark-and-only-later-sees-how-true-it-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Where does our investigation get its importance from, since it seems only to destroy everything interesting, that is, all that is great and important?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/where-does-our-investigation-get-its-importance-from-since-it-seems/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [There is such a thing as the impression of luminosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/there-is-such-a-thing-as-the-impression-of-luminosity/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/death-is-not-an-event-in-life-we-do-not-live-to-experience-death-if/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [I Once wrote: "In mathematics process and result are equivalent."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/i-once-wrote-in-mathematics-process-and-result-are-equivalent/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/philosophy-aims-at-the-logical-clarification-of-thoughts-philosophy/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed. Ethics are transcendental. (Ethics and æsthetics are one.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/it-is-clear-that-ethics-cannot-be-expressed-ethics-are-transcendental/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) [Explore all 454 Ludwig Wittgenstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) ## More Eternity quotes > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You may have some friends that come and go, but having a friend like God will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/you-may-have-some-friends-that-come-and-go-but-having-a-friend-like/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Browse all 3,482 Eternity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He who lives in the present lives in eternity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ludwig Wittgenstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-eternity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-eternity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_eternity_he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-ete_3004513.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He who lives in the present lives in eternity.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein", "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": "Ludwig Wittgenstein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He who lives in the present...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-eternity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/he-who-lives-in-the-present-lives-in-eternity/#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 } } ] } ```