--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love is in prospect or retrospect, the…" description: "\"“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.”\" — Nicholas Mosley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg" --- # Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy. ![“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.” quote by Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg) > ““Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.”” [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) ## 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 creates a blissful experience, while past or future focus diminishes joy. **In simple terms:** Present moments bring ecstasy. Key Takeaway Embrace the now for true happiness. Themes mindfulness presence joy Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily meditation - creative work - relationships - travel - sports Key Concepts temporal perception hedonism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor past lessons while staying present? - What practices keep you grounded? A Different Perspective Focusing only on the present may ignore valuable lessons from past or planning for future. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-does-231468/) [Love Prospect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-prospect-1116964/) [Present Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-ecstasy-2160238/) [Retrospect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retrospect/) [Retrospect Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retrospect-present-2160239/) ## Related quotes > [I love Prospect Park-watching fireflies at night and going to the bandshell for free music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbey-lee-kershaw/i-love-prospect-park-watching-fireflies-at-night-and-going-to-the/) [Abbey Lee Kershaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbey-lee-kershaw/) > [That's why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can't control life, at least you can control your version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/that-s-why-i-write-because-life-never-works-except-in-retrospect-you/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [People steal into one's consciousness and occupy what seems, in retrospect, to have been their place all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/people-steal-into-one-s-consciousness-and-occupy-what-seems-in/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [It is only in retrospect that the high points of our lives rise up, flaunting banners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-pratt/it-is-only-in-retrospect-that-the-high-points-of-our-lives-rise-up/) [Caroline Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-pratt/) > [Our Navy was very largely sunk. And we were at war in no time at all. I share, in retrospect, the distress we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-rusher/our-navy-was-very-largely-sunk-and-we-were-at-war-in-no-time-at-all-i/) [William A. Rusher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-rusher/) > [My main objective with every album is to capture a moment in time, which usually makes the whole process very relaxing. I only discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alanis-morissette/my-main-objective-with-every-album-is-to-capture-a-moment-in-time/) [Alanis Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alanis-morissette/) > [I reflected a lot, I thought a lot on my 50th birthday. It has been one of the most important birthdays in my life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/i-reflected-a-lot-i-thought-a-lot-on-my-50th-birthday-it-has-been-one/) [Rakesh Jhunjhunwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/) > [“But what is the sense in forever speculating what might have happened had such and such a moment turned out differently? One could presumably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/but-what-is-the-sense-in-forever-speculating-what-might-have-happened/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [Asked at the hearing why she hadn't pressed the FBI more closely about what it knew, or didn't know, about domestic terrorist threats, Rice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-fineman/asked-at-the-hearing-why-she-hadn-t-pressed-the-fbi-more-closely/) [Howard Fineman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-fineman/) > [And there's always retrospect to light a clearer path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-saliers/and-there-s-always-retrospect-to-light-a-clearer-path/) [Emily Saliers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-saliers/) > [Are the things that now, in retrospect, with what I've seen happen to my company, would I have done some things differently? I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-skilling/are-the-things-that-now-in-retrospect-with-what-i-ve-seen-happen-to/) [Jeffrey Skilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-skilling/) > [A lively retrospect summons back to us once more our youth, with vivid reflex of its early joys and unstained pleasures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/a-lively-retrospect-summons-back-to-us-once-more-our-youth-with-vivid/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [My first job was in a nursing home - a terrible place in retrospect. It was in an old house, and the residents were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-edwards/my-first-job-was-in-a-nursing-home-a-terrible-place-in-retrospect-it/) [Kim Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-edwards/) > [I have never heard anyone say This is it. I know right now is the high point of my life. It will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-carroll/i-have-never-heard-anyone-say-this-is-it-i-know-right-now-is-the-high/) [Jonathan Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-carroll/) > [Some of the sweetest hours in life, in retrospect will be found to have been spent with books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/some-of-the-sweetest-hours-in-life-in-retrospect-will-be-found-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Nicholas Mosley > [“It is very difficult to love people who are good to us: it is easier to imagine we are loving people we can condescend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-is-very-difficult-to-love-people-who-are-good-to-us-it-is-easier/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [There is curiously little art concerning the efficacy of reason - perhaps simply because reason is not noticeably efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/there-is-curiously-little-art-concerning-the-efficacy-of-reason/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“The ritual was kissing her at various parts as if I were adorning her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/the-ritual-was-kissing-her-at-various-parts-as-if-i-were-adorning-her/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [I don't think I've ever read an old book through from start to finish. Not after more than six months after writing it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-read-an-old-book-through-from-start-to-finish/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [Not only the style, but the way in which you don't exactly know what on earth has happened or is happening till about page…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/not-only-the-style-but-the-way-in-which-you-don-t-exactly-know-what/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [It connects with the theologians' point that you can say what God is not, but not (easily) what He is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-connects-with-the-theologians-point-that-you-can-say-what-god-is/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“The conceit of literary intellectuals is to imagine that other people don't have ideas so that they can assume a superior status by having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/the-conceit-of-literary-intellectuals-is-to-imagine-that-other-people/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“What if the need to have a hard time is built into human nature?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/what-if-the-need-to-have-a-hard-time-is-built-into-human-nature/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [After these three novels I gave up writing novels for a time; I was dissatisfied with romantic doom, yet didn't see much way around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/after-these-three-novels-i-gave-up-writing-novels-for-a-time-i-was/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [I did not think much what I was writing them for, except that I knew I wanted my next novel to be in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/i-did-not-think-much-what-i-was-writing-them-for-except-that-i-knew-i/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [To say a poem is absolute is saying nothing, because an ink blot can be absolute. Yet you put into it what you like.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/to-say-a-poem-is-absolute-is-saying-nothing-because-an-ink-blot-can/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“But had I not cut the cord? and now was I seeing what happens when there is no gravity. There is indeed nothing, nothing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/but-had-i-not-cut-the-cord-and-now-was-i-seeing-what-happens-when/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [If they tell the police, the police will find out she was driving, and her career will be put into hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/if-they-tell-the-police-the-police-will-find-out-she-was-driving-and/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [The mark of a living thing is to be involved in opposites (impossibilities): the living cell that has to be continually adapting itself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/the-mark-of-a-living-thing-is-to-be-involved-in-opposites/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [It always strikes me how almost unbelievably bad are the early versions of my novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-always-strikes-me-how-almost-unbelievably-bad-are-the-early/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) [Explore all 16 Nicholas Mosley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) ## More Ecstasy quotes > [Just be what it is that you are, and that is just fine. You don't have to be what you're not in any way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/just-be-what-it-is-that-you-are-and-that-is-just-fine-you-don-t-have/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Basketball isn't just a sport to me ; it's my ecstasy !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamira-robinson/basketball-isn-t-just-a-sport-to-me-it-s-my-ecstasy/) [Jamira Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamira-robinson/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [ “Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth." \[From: 19 Lessons On Tea\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/ecstasy-is-a-glass-full-of-tea-and-a-piece-of-sugar-in-the-mouth-from/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [“Human milk is like ice cream, penicillin, and the drug ecstasy all wrapped up in two pretty packages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-williams/human-milk-is-like-ice-cream-penicillin-and-the-drug-ecstasy-all/) [Florence Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-williams/) > [The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/the-highest-ecstasy-is-the-attention-at-its-fullest/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > ['Born This Way' is shaping up to be creative ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurieann-gibson/born-this-way-is-shaping-up-to-be-creative-ecstasy/) [Laurieann Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurieann-gibson/) > [Beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, But rather a heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/beauty-is-not-a-need-but-an-ecstasy-it-is-not-a-mouth-thirsting-nor/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [If a person measures his spiritual fulfillment in terms of cosmic visions, surpassing peace of mind, or ecstasy, then he is not likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/if-a-person-measures-his-spiritual-fulfillment-in-terms-of-cosmic/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [People tend to link "sex and drugs" because both are condemned by society. Nevertheless, throughout the ages human beings have continually searched for more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-doblin/people-tend-to-link-sex-and-drugs-because-both-are-condemned-by/) [Rick Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-doblin/) > [I revere the memory of Mr. F. as an estimable man and most indulgent husband, only necessary to mention Asparagus and it appeared or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-revere-the-memory-of-mr-f-as-an-estimable-man-and-most-indulgent/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“It is the capacity to feel consuming grief and pain and despair that also allows me to embrace love and joy and beauty with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-white/it-is-the-capacity-to-feel-consuming-grief-and-pain-and-despair-that/) [Anna White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-white/) > [When you meditate you feel joy, harmony, peace, stillness, ecstasy, laughter, certainty, courage, strength, awareness and immortality. In the beginning you will feel these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-meditate-you-feel-joy-harmony-peace-stillness-ecstasy/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Art is the communication of ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/art-is-the-communication-of-ecstasy/) [P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) [Browse all 735 Ecstasy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas Mosley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ecstasy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/nicholas-mosley-31638_ecstasy_love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-pr_208665.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.” — Nicholas Mosley", "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": "Nicholas Mosley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Love is in prospect or retrospect,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/#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 } } ] } ```