--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What libraries give you is all three…" description: "\"What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past tense - the present tense in which we live and the future that we can only imagine. These places..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ac/pete-hamill-11832_company_what-libraries-give-you-is-all-three-ten_1174908.jpg" --- # What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past… ![“What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past tense - the present tense in which we live and the future that we can only imagine. These places have teachers who are living and dead and we are lucky to have them. If I sit here and read Aristotle, he is speaking to me across a thousand…” quote by Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ac/pete-hamill-11832_company_what-libraries-give-you-is-all-three-ten_1174908.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ac/pete-hamill-11832_company_what-libraries-give-you-is-all-three-ten_1174908.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ac/pete-hamill-11832_company_what-libraries-give-you-is-all-three-ten_1174908.jpg) > “What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past tense - the present tense in which we live and the future that we can only imagine. These places have teachers who are living and dead and we are lucky to have them. If I sit here and read Aristotle, he is speaking to me across a thousand years - more than a thousand years. That sense that I am in the company of the great greatest people who ever lived is a humbling experience but a liberating experience.” [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Libraries connect past, present, and future, offering teachings from both living and deceased scholars, creating a humbling yet liberating experience of learning from great minds across time. **In simple terms:** Libraries link time periods, letting us learn from past and present thinkers. Key Takeaway Embrace the timeless dialogue of ideas. Themes knowledge humility timelessness learning Mood reflective inspired thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - personal growth - creative writing - academic study Key Concepts historical continuity intergenerational dialogue intellectual humility Questions to Reflect On - How does engaging with historic texts shape your worldview? - What role do libraries play in personal freedom? A Different Perspective Access to knowledge may be limited by censorship or funding cuts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Humbling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbling/) [Humbling experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbling-experiences/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Liberating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberating/) [Libraries Tenses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libraries-tenses-3422339/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucky/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Present tense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-tense/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Tense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tense/) [Tense Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tense-present-1222007/) [Tenses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenses-915743/) [Tenses Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenses-past-1105562/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Try to find the real tense of the report you are reading: Was it done, is it being done, or is something to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amrom-harry-katz/try-to-find-the-real-tense-of-the-report-you-are-reading-was-it-done/) [Amrom Harry Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amrom-harry-katz/) > [Everything is beautiful. 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The tenses slur and slide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/this-is-the-man-who-will-be-my-grandfather-the-man-who-will-be-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“starting at a certain point, the future is only a need to live in the past. To immediately redo the grammatical tenses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/starting-at-a-certain-point-the-future-is-only-a-need-to-live-in-the/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“There’s a language, I think it’s called Mescalero, in which verbs don’t change tenses. There’s no future or past tense in that language. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-oklopd-i/there-s-a-language-i-think-it-s-called-mescalero-in-which-verbs-don-t/) [Milan Oklopdzic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-oklopd-i/) > [Won't you stay We'll put on the day And we'll talk in present tenses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/won-t-you-stay-we-ll-put-on-the-day-and-we-ll-talk-in-present-tenses/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [I finally got my past, present and future tenses correct today. I loved you. I love you. I will love you forever!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiz/i-finally-got-my-past-present-and-future-tenses-correct-today-i-loved/) [Kiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiz/) ## More by Pete Hamill > [“The great novel of twentieth-century New York might be the Daily News.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/the-great-novel-of-twentieth-century-new-york-might-be-the-daily-news/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [Don't tell me about the world. Not today. 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