--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great thing about using the past is…" description: "\"The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. The research is necessary, of course, but no one writes ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/916/peter-carey-4293_colossal_the-great-thing-about-using-the-past-is_3227779.png" --- # The great thing about using the past is that it gives you… ![“The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. The research is necessary, of course, but no one writes a novel to dramatically illustrate what everybody already knows.” quote by Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/916/peter-carey-4293_colossal_the-great-thing-about-using-the-past-is_3227779.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/916/peter-carey-4293_colossal_the-great-thing-about-using-the-past-is_3227779.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/916/peter-carey-4293_colossal_the-great-thing-about-using-the-past-is_3227779.png) > “The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. The research is necessary, of course, but no one writes a novel to dramatically illustrate what everybody already knows.” [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Past knowledge provides a vast creative space, allowing invention while grounding work in research. **In simple terms:** The past frees you to create. Key Takeaway Use history as a springboard for new ideas. Themes creativity history freedom Mood reflective inspired Type literary motivational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - academic research - personal projects Key Concepts innovation contextual awareness Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance research with imagination? - When does historical fidelity hinder creativity? A Different Perspective Relying too heavily on the past may limit originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Great things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-things/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The problem with contemporary art is that no one bothers to do the research necessary to give people what they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/the-problem-with-contemporary-art-is-that-no-one-bothers-to-do-the/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [I generally don't feel the need to do more research than is necessary to play the part for me, to inform me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-helberg/i-generally-don-t-feel-the-need-to-do-more-research-than-is-necessary/) [Simon Helberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-helberg/) > [“You need not specifically discuss the perspectives of different religions in your essay, so no research is necessary. Your knowledge, or lack thereof, has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-need-not-specifically-discuss-the-perspectives-of-different/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Research is necessary. However, you need to make sure you don't fall into its trap. You need to have time left for writing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/research-is-necessary-however-you-need-to-make-sure-you-don-t-fall/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [Research is always a very necessary part of my process because all of my books to this point have been historical. Time spent in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/research-is-always-a-very-necessary-part-of-my-process-because-all-of/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [“To better myself, using my past as my teacher. It took me too long. I was blinded by ambition, my drive…I know now what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-a-turkot/to-better-myself-using-my-past-as-my-teacher-it-took-me-too-long-i/) Joseph A. Turkot > [“(about finding evidence of the past) And when you get that confirmation, it would instantly become the past itself. So in effect, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/about-finding-evidence-of-the-past-and-when-you-get-that-confirmation/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [I refuse to go back to the old me. I'm becoming a better person using my past experiences as lessons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-refuse-to-go-back-to-the-old-me-i-m-becoming-a-better-person-using/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Live today. Remove all blame from your vocabulary. Catch yourself when you find yourself using your past history as a reason for your failure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/live-today-remove-all-blame-from-your-vocabulary-catch-yourself-when/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [We have a tendency in Quebec - and I include myself in this - to describe ourselves using the past. We're always nostalgic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lepage/we-have-a-tendency-in-quebec-and-i-include-myself-in-this-to-describe/) [Robert Lepage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lepage/) > [“Dear Sir, I reply, I never had any. Bad sex, that is. It was never the sex, it was the other things, the absence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/dear-sir-i-reply-i-never-had-any-bad-sex-that-is-it-was-never-the-sex/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Using your past experiences as a guide is a tool that not everyone around us is blessed with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/using-your-past-experiences-as-a-guide-is-a-tool-that-not-everyone/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [You are only able to do what you can now because of what you learned. For instance, you only recognize a friend when she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/you-are-only-able-to-do-what-you-can-now-because-of-what-you-learned/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [“It surprised me that I was already using the past tense. People I knew. As if I didn't know them anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-newell/it-surprised-me-that-i-was-already-using-the-past-tense-people-i-knew/) [Ashley Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-newell/) > [My greatest pleasure is to invent. My continual mad ambition is to make something true and beautiful that never existed in the world before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/my-greatest-pleasure-is-to-invent-my-continual-mad-ambition-is-to/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) ## More by Peter Carey > [“I have traveled widely. I have seen this country in its infancy. I tell you what it will become. The public squares will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/i-have-traveled-widely-i-have-seen-this-country-in-its-infancy-i-tell/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [At the very end of a book I can manage to work for longer stretches, but mostly, making stuff up for three hours, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/at-the-very-end-of-a-book-i-can-manage-to-work-for-longer-stretches/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [Being famous as a writer is like being famous in a village. It's not really any very heady fame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/being-famous-as-a-writer-is-like-being-famous-in-a-village-it-s-not/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [It's not like I've got 100 ideas. I finish a book, and I've got none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/it-s-not-like-i-ve-got-100-ideas-i-finish-a-book-and-i-ve-got-none/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“Remember, this is the country of the duck-billed platypus. When you are cut off from the rest of the world, things are bound to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/remember-this-is-the-country-of-the-duck-billed-platypus-when-you-are/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [Australia is my lens. I cannot see the world any other way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/australia-is-my-lens-i-cannot-see-the-world-any-other-way/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [If you ever read one of my books I hope you'll think it looks so easy. In fact, I wrote those chapters 20 times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/if-you-ever-read-one-of-my-books-i-hope-you-ll-think-it-looks-so-easy/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [I had known loneliness before, and emptiness upon the moor, but I had never been a NOTHING, a nothing floating on a nothing, known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/i-had-known-loneliness-before-and-emptiness-upon-the-moor-but-i-had/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [I did not know that history is like a blood stain that keeps on showing on the wall no matter how many new owners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/i-did-not-know-that-history-is-like-a-blood-stain-that-keeps-on/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [I think that thing about the destruction of the world is there all the time, it's there every day when we look out the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/i-think-that-thing-about-the-destruction-of-the-world-is-there-all/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“Your American, you wouldn't know if you were up yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/your-american-you-wouldn-t-know-if-you-were-up-yourself/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“He were still smiling but his voice were hard as a spoon rattling in a metal cup.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/he-were-still-smiling-but-his-voice-were-hard-as-a-spoon-rattling-in/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“Would you rather have the lords and nobles back? What is Democracy for? Not so we can rob each other. Or cheat.' I said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/would-you-rather-have-the-lords-and-nobles-back-what-is-democracy-for/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“7. Some Theories that Arose at the Time 1. The world is merely a dream dreamt by god who is waking after a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/7-some-theories-that-arose-at-the-time-1-the-world-is-merely-a-dream/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [I'm always the one with the activist friends. I've been an activist very little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/i-m-always-the-one-with-the-activist-friends-i-ve-been-an-activist/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) [Explore all 113 Peter Carey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) ## More Colossal quotes > [Thy food is such As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thy-food-is-such-as-hath-been-belch-d-on-by-infected-lungs/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“Ta-da! A colossal prick!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-macfarlane/ta-da-a-colossal-prick/) [Seth MacFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-macfarlane/) > [He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/he-is-your-friend-your-partner-your-defender-your-dog-you-are-his/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/our-dogs-will-love-and-admire-the-meanest-of-us-and-feed-our-colossal/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > ['Loving Frank' is about a forbidden love affair between two people who lived a hundred years ago - Frank Lloyd Wright and his married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-horan/loving-frank-is-about-a-forbidden-love-affair-between-two-people-who/) [Nancy Horan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-horan/) > [Character is the colossal hope of human improvement within and without.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/character-is-the-colossal-hope-of-human-improvement-within-and-without/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [I started to draw buildings. I called them Proposed Colossal Monuments - they weren't for real, not for actual building. It was more a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/i-started-to-draw-buildings-i-called-them-proposed-colossal-monuments/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [ The pope \[Francis\] takes his vocabulary from his pastoral experience, not from the rhetorical tool kit of liberation theology, with its Marxist yammering about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-weigel/the-pope-francis-takes-his-vocabulary-from-his-pastoral-experience/) [George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-weigel/) > [The more we heat up the planet, the more it costs all of us, not just in money, but in colossal famines, displacements, deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/the-more-we-heat-up-the-planet-the-more-it-costs-all-of-us-not-just/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [A colossal event is upon us, the birth of a New World Order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-scowcroft/a-colossal-event-is-upon-us-the-birth-of-a-new-world-order/) [Brent Scowcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-scowcroft/) > [Whatever else it was, Adolf Hitler's short-lived regime was also a colossal industrial process by which the wealth and productive power of much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/whatever-else-it-was-adolf-hitler-s-short-lived-regime-was-also-a/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [The athlete who is building muscles though weight training should be very sure to work adequately on speed and flexibility at the same time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/the-athlete-who-is-building-muscles-though-weight-training-should-be/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [Negro slavery is an evil of colossal magnitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/negro-slavery-is-an-evil-of-colossal-magnitude/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [The silent colossal National Lie that is the support and confederate of all the tyrannies and shams and inequalities and unfairnesses that afflict the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-silent-colossal-national-lie-that-is-the-support-and-confederate/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) Browse all 125 Colossal quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. 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