--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you have no past or no future, which…" description: "\"If you have no past or no future, which, after all, is all that the present is made of, why then you may as well dispose of the empty shell of present ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/sylvia-plath-149_cold_if-you-have-no-past-or-no-future-which-a_244149.jpg" --- # If you have no past or no future, which, after all, is all… ![“If you have no past or no future, which, after all, is all that the present is made of, why then you may as well dispose of the empty shell of present and commit suicide. But the cold reasoning mass of gray entrail in my cranium which parrots, ‘I think, therefore I am,’ whispers that there is…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/sylvia-plath-149_cold_if-you-have-no-past-or-no-future-which-a_244149.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/sylvia-plath-149_cold_if-you-have-no-past-or-no-future-which-a_244149.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/sylvia-plath-149_cold_if-you-have-no-past-or-no-future-which-a_244149.jpg) > “If you have no past or no future, which, after all, is all that the present is made of, why then you may as well dispose of the empty shell of present and commit suicide. But the cold reasoning mass of gray entrail in my cranium which parrots, ‘I think, therefore I am,’ whispers that there is always the turning, the upgrade, the new slant. And so I wait.” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When past and future feel meaningless, the present seems empty, yet consciousness hints at future change and renewal. **In simple terms:** Even when life feels empty, consciousness suggests future change. Key Takeaway Hold onto the possibility of change. Themes existential crisis suicide consciousness hope Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary psychological When to use this quote - mental health counseling - creative writing therapy - support groups - philosophical reflection Key Concepts nihilism self-awareness psychological resilience Questions to Reflect On - What small actions can sustain hope? - How does creative expression aid recovery? A Different Perspective Hope may be fleeting and not enough for severe depression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [And if you have no past or future which, after all, is all that the present is made of, why then you may as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/and-if-you-have-no-past-or-future-which-after-all-is-all-that-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I can't deceive myself out of the bare stark realization that no matter how enthusiastic you are, no matter how sure that character is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-can-t-deceive-myself-out-of-the-bare-stark-realization-that-no/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Without ELF, I'm just an empty shell. I'll always love E.L.F., even if E.L.F. already forgot about SJ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leeteuk/without-elf-i-m-just-an-empty-shell-i-ll-always-love-e-l-f-even-if-e/) Leeteuk > [We are empty shells if we do not possess, if we do not fill our life with furniture, with music, with knowledge, with this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-are-empty-shells-if-we-do-not-possess-if-we-do-not-fill-our-life/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realise that the only vehicle for change are these people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/it-becomes-more-necessary-to-see-the-truth-as-it-is-if-you-realise/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [Why did people assume that the beautiful among them needed nothing but their beauty to bring them happiness? That behind the beauty there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-balogh/why-did-people-assume-that-the-beautiful-among-them-needed-nothing/) [Mary Balogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-balogh/) > [When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/when-the-words-come-they-are-merely-empty-shells-without-the-music/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. 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Yesterday was the present to you when you experienced it, and tomorrow will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/there-is-neither-past-nor-future-there-is-only-the-present-yesterday/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [I write with my past, about the future, for the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eyedea/i-write-with-my-past-about-the-future-for-the-present/) [Eyedea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eyedea/) > [The future is foretold from the past and the future is only possible because of the past. Without past and future, the present is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/the-future-is-foretold-from-the-past-and-the-future-is-only-possible/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-never-keep-to-the-present-we-recall-the-past-we-anticipate-the/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“the present moment contains both past and future. The only material that the future is made of is the present. If you know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/the-present-moment-contains-both-past-and-future-the-only-material/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Cold quotes > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [Of course Messi could handle a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. He'd be drinking tea and relaxing beforehand. Me? I'd probably be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymar/of-course-messi-could-handle-a-cold-tuesday-night-in-stoke-he-d-be/) [Neymar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymar/) > [This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day \[as a Fairfax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/this-cold-weather-has-set-all-the-young-folks-to-providing-bedfellows/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [When my main character in 'Heat' climbs the tower, the highest diving platform, hoping to resume competitive diving after an injury, I am there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cadnum/when-my-main-character-in-heat-climbs-the-tower-the-highest-diving/) [Michael Cadnum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cadnum/) > [You start playing when it's cold and you want to be playing when it's cold again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimy-williams/you-start-playing-when-it-s-cold-and-you-want-to-be-playing-when-it-s/) Jimy Williams > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/what-s-to-become-of-the-morally-sound-left-out-in-the-cold-i-suppose/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [When I first started, all the reviews of Cold Chisel would say, 'This singer won't have a voice in six months.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-barnes/when-i-first-started-all-the-reviews-of-cold-chisel-would-say-this/) [Jimmy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-barnes/) > [One of the problems trying to play an instrument outside in the cold is your fingers give up on you and you can't wear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-macdonald/one-of-the-problems-trying-to-play-an-instrument-outside-in-the-cold/) [Amy Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-macdonald/) > [God tempers the cold to the shorn sheep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-etienne-sainte-claire-deville/god-tempers-the-cold-to-the-shorn-sheep/) Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville > [Those nights lying alone are not discontinuous with this cold hectic dawn. It is who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/those-nights-lying-alone-are-not-discontinuous-with-this-cold-hectic/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) [Browse all 5,381 Cold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you have no past or no future, which, after all, is all that the present is made of, why then you may as well dispose of the empty shell of present and commit suicide. But the cold reasoning mass of gray entrail in my cranium which parrots, ‘I think, therefore I am,’ whispers that there is always the turning, the upgrade, the new slant. 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