--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whatever worked in the past, build on it…" description: "\"Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn't work in the past, break the chain that binds you to it.\" — Marianne Williamson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/216/marianne-williamson-90_break_whatever-worked-in-the-past-build-on-it_1193360.png" --- # Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn't… ![“Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn't work in the past, break the chain that binds you to it.” quote by Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/216/marianne-williamson-90_break_whatever-worked-in-the-past-build-on-it_1193360.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/216/marianne-williamson-90_break_whatever-worked-in-the-past-build-on-it_1193360.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/216/marianne-williamson-90_break_whatever-worked-in-the-past-build-on-it_1193360.png) > “Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn't work in the past, break the chain that binds you to it.” [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates building on successful past actions while breaking harmful patterns **In simple terms:** Use past successes, discard past failures Key Takeaway Leverage strengths, release limiting habits Themes growth self‑improvement mindset Mood hopeful reflective Type self‑help philosophical When to use this quote - Career planning - Personal habit reform - Relationship dynamics - Health routines Key Concepts Positive reinforcement Behavioral change Self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What past successes can you expand upon? - Which old patterns hold you back? A Different Perspective Breaking habits can be painful and require support ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Break Chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break-chain-2297163/) [Chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chain/) [Chain Binds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chain-binds-2623315/) [Chains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chains/) [Chains that bind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chains-that-bind-29454/) [Changing your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-your-life/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Learn from the past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-from-the-past/) [Lecturer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lecturer/) [Living in the past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-in-the-past/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Build](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-build-3103578/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Worked Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worked-past-690039/) ## Related quotes > [“Bring the past, but only if you can build from it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominico-scarlatti/bring-the-past-but-only-if-you-can-build-from-it/) [Dominico Scarlatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominico-scarlatti/) > [A chain can hold and bind everything to be together. But not my heart. Id rather be in prison than to feel the hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teejaydavid/a-chain-can-hold-and-bind-everything-to-be-together-but-not-my-heart/) [Teejaydavid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teejaydavid/) > [Memory is a golden chain that binds us together until we meet again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/memory-is-a-golden-chain-that-binds-us-together-until-we-meet-again/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Architecture is measured against the past, you build in the present, and try to imagine the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/architecture-is-measured-against-the-past-you-build-in-the-present/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [I make it a priority to keep in touch with people with whom I've worked in the past. 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Everything else is good so far as it leads to this one grand idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/to-realize-the-spirit-as-spirit-is-practical-religion-everything-else/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The places I've worked in the past, I always stayed three years and moved on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-kilborn/the-places-i-ve-worked-in-the-past-i-always-stayed-three-years-and/) [Craig Kilborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-kilborn/) > [Then shoulder to shoulder! Let us engirdle the little circle of the earth with the chains that bind us to each other. 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There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Great people are not people who have never fallen down. Greatness has to do with how you get back up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/great-people-are-not-people-who-have-never-fallen-down-greatness-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I feel that if your soul was branded by the sixties, you never lost the brand. 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You are not too old. You are right on time-And you are better than you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/it-is-not-too-late-you-are-not-too-old-you-are-right-on-time-and-you/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I tell my mother I went to God in spite of my religious education. I feel that my religious education was inadequate, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-tell-my-mother-i-went-to-god-in-spite-of-my-religious-education-i/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [You don't have to be a spiritual seeker, you can be a businessman dealing with the revolution in computers. 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No one can break your heart except you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/he-didn-t-break-my-heart-no-one-can-break-your-heart-except-you/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“She couldn't break the orbit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/she-couldn-t-break-the-orbit/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) > [Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-pain-is-the-breaking-of-the-shell-that-encloses-your/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I hadn't worked for a year when I had my Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. 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