--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are now faced with the fact, my…" description: "\"“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/steven-pressfield-696_lost-opportunity_we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friend_170216.jpg" --- # We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow… ![“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and…” quote by Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/steven-pressfield-696_lost-opportunity_we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friend_170216.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/steven-pressfield-696_lost-opportunity_we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friend_170216.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/steven-pressfield-696_lost-opportunity_we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friend_170216.jpg) > ““We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood—it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.”   Martin Luther King, Jr. Beyond Vietnam – A Time to Break Silence New York City, April 4, 1967”” [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## 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 warns that time is relentless and procrastination steals opportunities; we must act now before chances slip away. **In simple terms:** Time moves fast; don’t delay. Key Takeaway Act immediately to avoid missed chances. Themes urgency time procrastination opportunity history Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical. When to use this quote - personal goals - career decisions - social activism - creative projects - health choices Key Concepts impermanence agency legacy Questions to Reflect On - What opportunity are you postponing? - How can you create momentum despite fear? A Different Perspective Even with urgency, fear and uncertainty can still cause hesitation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lost opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-opportunity/) [New york city](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york-city/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king/we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-that-tomorrow-is-today-we-are-2/) [Martin Luther King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king/) > [We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friends-that-tomorrow-is-today-we-3/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The 'tide in the affairs of men' does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-tide-in-the-affairs-of-men-does-not-remain-at-the-flood-it-ebbs/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We are faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Over the bleached bones and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-are-faced-with-the-fact-my-friends-that-tomorrow-is-today/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [There's no such thing as too late when it comes to your Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/there-s-no-such-thing-as-too-late-when-it-comes-to-your-love/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [“I’m late,” she snapped before Summerset could speak. “But here’s the thing, I’m not always late, but you’re always ugly. Who’s got the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-robb/i-m-late-she-snapped-before-summerset-could-speak-but-here-s-the/) [J.D. Robb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-robb/) > [The best thing about being too late is that there's no more need to hurry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/the-best-thing-about-being-too-late-is-that-there-s-no-more-need-to/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [I believe, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that there is such a thing as being too late, and when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-believe-in-the-words-of-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-that-there-is-such/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Or is there no such thing as 'too late'? Is there only 'late' and is 'late' always better than 'never'? I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/or-is-there-no-such-thing-as-too-late-is-there-only-late-and-is-late/) [Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/) > [A bloody good thing, but too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-coward/a-bloody-good-thing-but-too-late/) [Noel Coward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-coward/) > [There is a such thing as too late...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-anne/there-is-a-such-thing-as-too-late/) Louise Anne > [There is no such thing as 'too late' in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/there-is-no-such-thing-as-too-late-in-life/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [The superior thing ... was to be late. Lateness showed that serene contempt for the illusion we call time which is so necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/the-superior-thing-was-to-be-late-lateness-showed-that-serene/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [“We all pretend things sometimes. And sometimes we leave thing too late.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-de-pierres/we-all-pretend-things-sometimes-and-sometimes-we-leave-thing-too-late/) [Marianne de Pierres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-de-pierres/) > [Farming, if you do one thing late, you will be late in all your work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cato-the-elder/farming-if-you-do-one-thing-late-you-will-be-late-in-all-your-work/) [Cato the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cato-the-elder/) ## More by Steven Pressfield > [Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/most-of-us-have-two-lives-the-life-we-live-and-the-unlived-life/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. Each asks the same questions: Who am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-artist-and-the-fundamentalist-both-confront-the-same-issue-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-professional-arms-himself-with-patience-not-only-to-give-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Kabbalah describes angels as bundles of light, meaning intelligence, consciousness. Kabbalists believe that above every blade of grass is an angel crying "Grow!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-kabbalah-describes-angels-as-bundles-of-light-meaning/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/to-labor-in-the-arts-for-any-reason-other-than-love-is-prostitution/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“that of dealing death, of loosing another man’s soul and sending it down to hell. You want to savor it, to twist the blade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/that-of-dealing-death-of-loosing-another-man-s-soul-and-sending-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-is-experienced-as-fear-the-degree-of-fear-equates-to-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us... Ideas come. Insights accrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-sit-down-each-day-and-do-our-work-power-concentrates-around/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Anything that draws attention to ourselves through pain-free or artificial means is a manifestation of Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/anything-that-draws-attention-to-ourselves-through-pain-free-or/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. 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Resistance gets us to plunge into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-outwits-the-amateur-with-the-oldest-trick-in-the-book-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“I don't need to read nothing,' said the New Zealander. 'I was there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/i-don-t-need-to-read-nothing-said-the-new-zealander-i-was-there/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) [Explore all 404 Steven Pressfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## More Late quotes > [You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 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It's no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wong-kar-wai/love-is-all-a-matter-of-timing-it-s-no-good-meeting-the-right-person/) [Wong Kar-wai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wong-kar-wai/) > [And my experience is the best titles, for me, emerge in the process of writing. They don't usually come at the very beginning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-my-experience-is-the-best-titles-for-me-emerge-in-the-process-of/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [I relish the time I have when there are no interruptions. 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I am very much afraid that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/god-alone-knows-how-great-it-is-all-i-hope-is-that-it-is-not-too-late/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) Browse all 5,113 Late quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood—it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. 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