--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past can't now be altered, the future…" description: "\"“The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived, and consciously to experience every moment of the present is the only way to gain at le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg" --- # The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be… ![“The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived, and consciously to experience every moment of the present is the only way to gain at least the illusion of immortality.” quote by P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg) > ““The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived, and consciously to experience every moment of the present is the only way to gain at least the illusion of immortality.”” [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges full presence in the now, since past and future are beyond our control, and only by immersing in the present can we feel timeless. **In simple terms:** Live in the present to feel timeless. Key Takeaway Focus on now, not regrets or anxieties. Themes mindfulness time existence Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily meditation - stressful work - grieving loss - creative projects Key Concepts philosophy psychology impermanence Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice full presence today? - What habits pull you away from the now? A Different Perspective Present awareness can be hard when distracted or anxious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Every moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-moment/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past and present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-present/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“a fragile illusion of immortality that expanded with each splash of warm blood around my boots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-adair/a-fragile-illusion-of-immortality-that-expanded-with-each-splash-of/) [Bobby Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-adair/) > [I accept myself completely here and now and consciously experience everything I feel, think, say and do (including my emotion backed addictions) as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-keyes-jr/i-accept-myself-completely-here-and-now-and-consciously-experience/) [Ken Keyes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-keyes-jr/) > [When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you... Then, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/when-you-go-to-war-as-a-boy-you-have-a-great-illusion-of-immortality-2/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Lovers of air travel find it exhilarating to hang poised between the illusion of immortality and the fact of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chase/lovers-of-air-travel-find-it-exhilarating-to-hang-poised-between-the/) [Alexander Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chase/) > [It is easy to remove the mind from harping on the lost illusion of immortality. The disciplined intellect fears nothing and craves no sugar-plum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-easy-to-remove-the-mind-from-harping-on-the-lost-illusion-of-2/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [There is no point in regretting any part of the past. The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james/there-is-no-point-in-regretting-any-part-of-the-past-the-past-can-t/) [P. D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james/) > [It is easy to remove the mind from harping on the lost illusion of immortality. The disciplined intellect fears nothing and craves no sugar-plum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-easy-to-remove-the-mind-from-harping-on-the-lost-illusion-of/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [You've got all these characters and yet, you're hovering over one character like a fly over a stinky diaper. Realize that you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-wendig/you-ve-got-all-these-characters-and-yet-you-re-hovering-over-one/) [Chuck Wendig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-wendig/) > [“What is the present if not the graveyard of the past where, for each of our deeds we dig a grave. Everything we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/what-is-the-present-if-not-the-graveyard-of-the-past-where-for-each/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [“To believe that the Osages survived intact from their ordeal is a delusion of the mind. What has been possible to salvage has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/to-believe-that-the-osages-survived-intact-from-their-ordeal-is-a/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“Its protagonists were lonely and Williams explores their past and present lives in the kind of tedious detail that could only appeal to retards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-home/its-protagonists-were-lonely-and-williams-explores-their-past-and/) Stewart Home > [“Sometimes people rise above their past, sometimes not. And sometimes the people you least expect it from—like Raylan and my father— have a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayla-cunningham/sometimes-people-rise-above-their-past-sometimes-not-and-sometimes/) [Kayla Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayla-cunningham/) > [Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime, and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-lives-are-not-our-own-from-womb-to-tomb-we-are-bound-to-others/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But it’s bells at twenty-seven thousand feet as the plane breaks into the clear again, as its motion steadies again; it is bells; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-it-s-bells-at-twenty-seven-thousand-feet-as-the-plane-breaks-into/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Global poverty is the product of reversible policy failures overseen by politicians, past and present. The poorest of the poor don't vote in American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-evans/global-poverty-is-the-product-of-reversible-policy-failures-overseen/) [Hugh Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-evans/) ## More by P.D. James > [“I was like a little boy showing off my toys, desperate to win approval.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/i-was-like-a-little-boy-showing-off-my-toys-desperate-to-win-approval/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“Pleasure need not be less keen because there will be centuries of springs to come, their blossom unseen by human eyes, the walls will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/pleasure-need-not-be-less-keen-because-there-will-be-centuries-of/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“What do you mean by sound government?' Good public order, no corruption in high places, freedom from fear and war and crime, a reasonably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/what-do-you-mean-by-sound-government-good-public-order-no-corruption/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“I have enough trouble living with my own neurosis without coping with other people’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/i-have-enough-trouble-living-with-my-own-neurosis-without-coping-with/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“(A murderer about their victim:) "He was an expert in vicarious death. I should like to have been there to see how he enjoyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/a-murderer-about-their-victim-he-was-an-expert-in-vicarious-death-i/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“had found it difficult to sleep since my husband had been killed, and now I lay rigid under the canopy of the four-poster re-living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/had-found-it-difficult-to-sleep-since-my-husband-had-been-killed-and/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“It had always been a part of his job which he found difficult, the total lack of privacy for the victim. Murder stripped away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/it-had-always-been-a-part-of-his-job-which-he-found-difficult-the/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“On the whole I’m glad; you can’t mourn for unborn grandchildren when there never was a hope of them. This planet is doomed anyway.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/on-the-whole-i-m-glad-you-can-t-mourn-for-unborn-grandchildren-when/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“Dalgliesh was too experienced to assume that fear implied guilt; it was often the most innocent who were the most terrified.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/dalgliesh-was-too-experienced-to-assume-that-fear-implied-guilt-it/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“The young seldom lie convincingly. They haven’t had time to practise like the rest of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/the-young-seldom-lie-convincingly-they-haven-t-had-time-to-practise/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“It is doubtful whether Mrs Bennet missed the company of her second daughter, but her husband certainly did. Elizabeth had always been his favourite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/it-is-doubtful-whether-mrs-bennet-missed-the-company-of-her-second/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“She had quickly learned that to show unhappiness was to risk the loss of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/she-had-quickly-learned-that-to-show-unhappiness-was-to-risk-the-loss/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“You won't get love from a child if you don't give love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/you-won-t-get-love-from-a-child-if-you-don-t-give-love/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“Beauty is intellectually confusing; it sabotages common sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/beauty-is-intellectually-confusing-it-sabotages-common-sense/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [“It is never so difficult to congratulate a friend on her good fortune than when that fortune appears undeserved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/it-is-never-so-difficult-to-congratulate-a-friend-on-her-good-fortune/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) [Explore all 79 P.D. James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived, and consciously to experience every moment of the present is the only way to gain at least the illusion of immortality.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "P.D. James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future-has-yet-to-be-lived-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future-has-yet-to-be-lived-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6c/p-d-james-7898_death_the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future_1541017.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The past can't now be altered, the future has yet to be lived, and consciously to experience every moment of…” — P.D. James", "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": "P.D. James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The past can't now be altered,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future-has-yet-to-be-lived-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/the-past-can-t-now-be-altered-the-future-has-yet-to-be-lived-and/#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 } } ] } ```