--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past is only the present become…" description: "\"The past is only the present become invisible and mute; and because it is invisible and mute, its memorized glances and its murmurs are infinitely prec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/mary-webb-17175_glances_the-past-is-only-the-present-become-invi_2581755.png" --- # The past is only the present become invisible and mute… ![“The past is only the present become invisible and mute; and because it is invisible and mute, its memorized glances and its murmurs are infinitely precious. We are tomorrow's past.” quote by Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/mary-webb-17175_glances_the-past-is-only-the-present-become-invi_2581755.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/mary-webb-17175_glances_the-past-is-only-the-present-become-invi_2581755.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/mary-webb-17175_glances_the-past-is-only-the-present-become-invi_2581755.png) > “The past is only the present become invisible and mute; and because it is invisible and mute, its memorized glances and its murmurs are infinitely precious. We are tomorrow's past.” [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The past becomes an invisible, mute present; its hidden moments are precious, and we become tomorrow’s past. **In simple terms:** Past is silent, precious, and becomes future history. Key Takeaway Value unnoticed moments. Themes time memory preciousness Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - archiving - storytelling - generational dialogue Key Concepts impermanence reflection legacy Questions to Reflect On - What hidden moments matter? - How do you preserve them? A Different Perspective May romanticize loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Glances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glances/) [Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible/) [Mute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mute/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-present/) [Precious Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precious-tomorrow-1784316/) [Present Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-invisible-1137826/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) [Tomorrow Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow-past-326214/) ## Related quotes > [This today of yours is the precious tomorrow of someone who passed away yesterday. So appreciate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-today-of-yours-is-the-precious-tomorrow-of-someone-who-passed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That vivid present of theirs, how faint it grows! The past is only the present become invisible and mute, and because it is invisible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/that-vivid-present-of-theirs-how-faint-it-grows-the-past-is-only-the/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“The past is only the present become invisible and mute; its memoried glances and its murmurs are infinitely precious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/the-past-is-only-the-present-become-invisible-and-mute-its-memoried/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [We are tomorrow's past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/we-are-tomorrow-s-past/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders/faith-enables-the-believing-soul-to-treat-the-future-as-present-and/) [J. Oswald Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-oswald-sanders/) > [The present is always invisible because its environmental. 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I saw where it was born deep down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-saw-deep-in-the-eyes-of-the-animals-the-human-soul-look-out-upon-me/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Most people have learned to live in the moment. The argument goes that if the past has uncertain effect on the present, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/most-people-have-learned-to-live-in-the-moment-the-argument-goes-that/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each day is an opportunity to travel back into tomorrow's past and change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/each-day-is-an-opportunity-to-travel-back-into-tomorrow-s-past-and/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [No Matter What Happens today... You Must Remember That, Today Will Be Tomorrow's Past And, Tomorrow Will Be Today. It's a Life's Cycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/no-matter-what-happens-today-you-must-remember-that-today-will-be/) [Pacifiersucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pacifiersucker/) ## More by Mary Webb > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [There is surely no more unselfish person than the anthologist. For while all we others are striving to ensure our own immortality with eagerness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-surely-no-more-unselfish-person-than-the-anthologist-for/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [But when you dwell in a house you mislike, you will look out of a window a deal more than those that are content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/but-when-you-dwell-in-a-house-you-mislike-you-will-look-out-of-a/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Saddle your dreams before you ride em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/saddle-your-dreams-before-you-ride-em/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [For the world is founded and built up on death, and the reality of death is neither to be questioned nor feared. Death is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/for-the-world-is-founded-and-built-up-on-death-and-the-reality-of/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“I'd laboured over it a long while, and labour brings a thing near the heart's core.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/i-d-laboured-over-it-a-long-while-and-labour-brings-a-thing-near-the/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [It made me gladsome to be getting some education, it being like a big window opening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/it-made-me-gladsome-to-be-getting-some-education-it-being-like-a-big/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [The more anybody wants a thing, the more they do think others want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/the-more-anybody-wants-a-thing-the-more-they-do-think-others-want-it/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [ “\[...\]we are all as full of echoes as a rocky wood--echoes of the past, reflex echoes of the future, and echoes of the soil… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/we-are-all-as-full-of-echoes-as-a-rocky-wood-echoes-of-the-past/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Autumn is full of leave-taking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/autumn-is-full-of-leave-taking/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“I've thought since that when folk grumble about this and that and be not happy, it is not the fault of creation, that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/i-ve-thought-since-that-when-folk-grumble-about-this-and-that-and-be/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Green is the fresh emblem of well founded hopes. In blue the spirit can wander, but in green it can rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/green-is-the-fresh-emblem-of-well-founded-hopes-in-blue-the-spirit/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“He was ever a strong man, which is almost the same, times, as to say a man with little time for kindness. For if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/he-was-ever-a-strong-man-which-is-almost-the-same-times-as-to-say-a/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [The love of nature is a passion for those in whom it once lodges. It can never be quenched. It cannot change. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/the-love-of-nature-is-a-passion-for-those-in-whom-it-once-lodges-it/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“You wasn't made like watch-dogs and house-cats and cows. You was made a fox, and you be a fox, and its queer-like to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/you-wasn-t-made-like-watch-dogs-and-house-cats-and-cows-you-was-made/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) [Explore all 35 Mary Webb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) ## More Glances quotes > [One glance and I knew exactly who and what he was. The classic alpha male, the kind who had spurred evolution forward about five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/one-glance-and-i-knew-exactly-who-and-what-he-was-the-classic-alpha/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [Thy dangerous glances make women of men; new-born, we are melting into nature again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/thy-dangerous-glances-make-women-of-men-new-born-we-are-melting-into/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [And yes, I'll admit, I am jealous. I'm jealous of every minute you spend with him, of every concerned expression you send his way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-houck/and-yes-i-ll-admit-i-am-jealous-i-m-jealous-of-every-minute-you-spend/) [Colleen Houck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-houck/) > [The one piece of advice I would give to any actor is, if you want to go out on the street without being recognised,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/the-one-piece-of-advice-i-would-give-to-any-actor-is-if-you-want-to/) [Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/) > [Steadying herself with both hands on the table, she managed an awkward bow… 'Your Highness,' she stammered, head lowered... The prince flinched and cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/steadying-herself-with-both-hands-on-the-table-she-managed-an-awkward/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [So here I sit in the early candle-light of old age-I and my book-casting backward glances over out travel'd road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/so-here-i-sit-in-the-early-candle-light-of-old-age-i-and-my-book/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [She glances back before stepping into the alley, and she catches her grandfather looking at her the way he does sometimes--as if she's already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/she-glances-back-before-stepping-into-the-alley-and-she-catches-her/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [In his bleak mercy, Death forever strips The soul of light and memory, rendering blind Our vision, lest surmounted deeps appal, As when on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-ashton-smith/in-his-bleak-mercy-death-forever-strips-the-soul-of-light-and-memory/) [Clark Ashton Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-ashton-smith/) > [Children do not grow up all of a piece; look for the child of seven, especially to take many backward glances at the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-pratt/children-do-not-grow-up-all-of-a-piece-look-for-the-child-of-seven/) [Caroline Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-pratt/) > [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/there-are-houses-in-certain-provincial-towns-whose-aspect-inspires/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Browse all 580 Glances quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glances/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The past is only the present become invisible and mute; and because it is invisible and mute, its memorized glances and its murmurs are infinitely precious. 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