--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We all need a past - that's where our…" description: "\"We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.\" — Penelope Lively" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png" --- # We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity… ![“We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.” quote by Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png) > “We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.” [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She asserts that personal history shapes identity, emphasizing the importance of remembering the past. **In simple terms:** Past shapes who we are. Key Takeaway Reflect on personal history to understand self. Themes memory identity history Mood introspective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family storytelling - genealogy research - therapy - education Key Concepts psychology narrative identity Questions to Reflect On - How does your past influence current choices? - What memories define you? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on past may hinder growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We have to recognise that the validation of identity comes through relationships we have and what we produce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-cox/we-have-to-recognise-that-the-validation-of-identity-comes-through/) [Eva Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-cox/) > [Yet consider now, whether women are not quite past sense and reason, when they want to rule over men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/yet-consider-now-whether-women-are-not-quite-past-sense-and-reason/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The slavery of identity comes from our refusal to face ourselves. So we must begin the exploration to self-awareness. Where do we start?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/the-slavery-of-identity-comes-from-our-refusal-to-face-ourselves-so/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [We are never aware of the present; each instant of living becomes perceptible only when it is past, so that in a sense we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-wilder-lane/we-are-never-aware-of-the-present-each-instant-of-living-becomes/) [Rose Wilder Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-wilder-lane/) > [Through the power that memory gives us of thinking, feeling, imagining our way back through time we can at long last finally finish with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/through-the-power-that-memory-gives-us-of-thinking-feeling-imagining/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [“Furthermore, a society with no sense of the past, with no sense of the human role as significant not merely in experiencing history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/furthermore-a-society-with-no-sense-of-the-past-with-no-sense-of-the/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [My whole identity comes from Pakistan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-afridi/my-whole-identity-comes-from-pakistan/) [Shahid Afridi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-afridi/) > [Authenticity in Latin identity comes in so many different shapes and sizes and colors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zegler/authenticity-in-latin-identity-comes-in-so-many-different-shapes-and/) [Rachel Zegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zegler/) > [“If I am seeking to get identity from you ,I will watch you too closely, listen to you too intently, and need you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/if-i-am-seeking-to-get-identity-from-you-i-will-watch-you-too-closely/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [“Don't worry about your future in the past, Otherwise the sense of enjoyment won't last. By Vinay Chawla”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poignant-painters/don-t-worry-about-your-future-in-the-past-otherwise-the-sense-of/) Poignant Painters > [A strong sense of identity gives man an idea he can do no wrong; too little accomplishes the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/a-strong-sense-of-identity-gives-man-an-idea-he-can-do-no-wrong-too/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [… Without a sense of identity, there can be no real struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/without-a-sense-of-identity-there-can-be-no-real-struggle/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [We all need a firm sense of identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-eccleston/we-all-need-a-firm-sense-of-identity/) [Christopher Eccleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-eccleston/) > [“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/people-need-history-in-order-to-know-themselves-to-build-a-sense-of/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [Unless we base our sense of identity upon the truth of who we are, it is impossible to attain true happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shoshanna/unless-we-base-our-sense-of-identity-upon-the-truth-of-who-we-are-it/) [Brenda Shoshanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shoshanna/) ## More by Penelope Lively > [“I know quite well why I became a historian… It was because dissension was frowned upon when I was a child: 'Don't argue, Claudia,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-know-quite-well-why-i-became-a-historian-it-was-because-dissension/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I've always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresey. Shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-question-is-shall-it-or-shall-it-not-be-linear-history-i-ve/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/there-s-a-preoccupation-with-memory-and-the-operation-of-memory-and-a/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“He felt marvellously conscious of the moment, of here and now, of this day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/he-felt-marvellously-conscious-of-the-moment-of-here-and-now-of-this/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [People die, but money never does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/people-die-but-money-never-does/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“But her thoughts are often of the past. That evanescent, pervasive, slippery internal landscape known to no one else, that vast accretion of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/but-her-thoughts-are-often-of-the-past-that-evanescent-pervasive/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Unless I am a part of everything I am nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/unless-i-am-a-part-of-everything-i-am-nothing/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/getting-to-know-someone-else-involves-curiosity-about-where-they-have/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life; things happen differently for a beautiful woman than for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-intrigued-by-the-way-in-which-physical-appearance-can-often/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there is a raft of writers to whom I return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/since-then-i-have-just-read-and-read-but-that-said-i-suppose-there-is/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“I have a print - you can buy them at the Victoria and Albert Museum - of a photograph of the village street of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-a-print-you-can-buy-them-at-the-victoria-and-albert-museum-of/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Every novel generates its own climate, when you get going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/every-novel-generates-its-own-climate-when-you-get-going/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The power of language. Preserving the ephemeral; giving form to dreams, permanence to sparks of sunlight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-power-of-language-preserving-the-ephemeral-giving-form-to-dreams/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I wanted a structure whereby each of the main characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/conventional-forms-of-narrative-allow-for-different-points-of-view/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [If people don't read, that's their choice; a lifelong book habit may itself be some sort of affliction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/if-people-don-t-read-that-s-their-choice-a-lifelong-book-habit-may/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) [Explore all 118 Penelope Lively quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## More Identity quotes > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/) [S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/) > [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/) [Booker T. 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Dalton [Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Penelope Lively" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Identity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/penelope-lively-3959_identity_we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sens_308513.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.” — Penelope Lively", "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": "Penelope Lively", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We all need a past -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/#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 } } ] } ```