--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The present is haunted by the X-present…" description: "\"The present is haunted by the X-present. I call this manifold of present and X-present 'nowness': a shifting, haunted region like evaporating mist; a r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/timothy-morton-4240_haunted_the-present-is-haunted-by-the-x-present_3203510.png" --- # The present is haunted by the X-present. I call this… ![“The present is haunted by the X-present. I call this manifold of present and X-present 'nowness': a shifting, haunted region like evaporating mist; a region can't be tied to a specific timescale.” quote by Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/timothy-morton-4240_haunted_the-present-is-haunted-by-the-x-present_3203510.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/timothy-morton-4240_haunted_the-present-is-haunted-by-the-x-present_3203510.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/timothy-morton-4240_haunted_the-present-is-haunted-by-the-x-present_3203510.png) > “The present is haunted by the X-present. I call this manifold of present and X-present 'nowness': a shifting, haunted region like evaporating mist; a region can't be tied to a specific timescale.” [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores how present experience is haunted by an overlapping, indeterminate layer of time he calls "nowness". **In simple terms:** Time is fuzzy, overlapping past and future. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty of time. Themes time presence haunting Mood thoughtful introspective Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - mindfulness - philosophical analysis - artistic practice Key Concepts phenomenology ontological temporal theory Questions to Reflect On - How does "nowness" affect your daily decisions? - Can you live with temporal ambiguity? A Different Perspective Concept may be too abstract for practical use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Haunted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haunted/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Mist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mist/) [Nowness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nowness-2085466/) [Nowness Shifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nowness-shifting-5957094/) [Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present/) [Present Haunted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-haunted-5957096/) [Present Manifold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-manifold-5957095/) [Present Nowness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-nowness-5957093/) [Shifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shifting/) ## Related quotes > ['Nowness' is a dynamic relation between the past and the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/nowness-is-a-dynamic-relation-between-the-past-and-the-future/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [Nowness is the essence of meditation. Whatever one does, whatever one tries to practice, is trying to see what is here and now. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/nowness-is-the-essence-of-meditation-whatever-one-does-whatever-one/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [“The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-principle-of-nowness-is-very-important-to-any-effort-to-establish/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Nowness or the magic of the present moment is what joins the wisdom of the past with the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/nowness-or-the-magic-of-the-present-moment-is-what-joins-the-wisdom/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [“..., imagine a loamy earth that starts with genocide, then adds a mix of further disease, wars, hurricanes, murder, great fires, dueling, insurrection and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/imagine-a-loamy-earth-that-starts-with-genocide-then-adds-a-mix-of/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“Every town has ‘THAT house’: the one that once held dark secrets. You know the house… the one no one will purchase? The one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/every-town-has-that-house-the-one-that-once-held-dark-secrets-you/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“Despite the way she rallied, the haunted look in her eyes was enough to break him, as lost and lonely as an abandoned child’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/despite-the-way-she-rallied-the-haunted-look-in-her-eyes-was-enough/) [Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/) > [“She haunted the makeup department until she was bored, then took a look around home furnishings. She wasn't ever going to get another dining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/she-haunted-the-makeup-department-until-she-was-bored-then-took-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [...you don't need ghosts to be haunted. Memory does that just fine without any supernatural help at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-don-t-need-ghosts-to-be-haunted-memory-does-that-just-fine/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I keep all my clothes on in House on Haunted Hill, Mary Jane's Last Dance, and The Way of the Gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taye-diggs/i-keep-all-my-clothes-on-in-house-on-haunted-hill-mary-jane-s-last/) [Taye Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taye-diggs/) > [I don't like haunted houses or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-burrow/i-don-t-like-haunted-houses-or-anything-like-that/) [Joe Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-burrow/) > [“...the haunted always take refuge in stillness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/the-haunted-always-take-refuge-in-stillness/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) ## More by Timothy Morton > [Psychologism holds that logical assertions are percolations of brains. Thus logic is a set of rules for how healthy brains operate. Aside from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/psychologism-holds-that-logical-assertions-are-percolations-of-brains/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > ['Free speech' isn't speech at all if it's being used without listening, attention, or care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/free-speech-isn-t-speech-at-all-if-it-s-being-used-without-listening/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [It's easier to be Eric Idle than to be Paul McCartney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/it-s-easier-to-be-eric-idle-than-to-be-paul-mccartney/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [A weird thing is a strange loop, what some of us call 'an object.' Thus it is looked down on by the constructivist spokespeople…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/a-weird-thing-is-a-strange-loop-what-some-of-us-call-an-object-thus/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [After a lifetime of listening to every Floyd album pretty much all the time - they're etched - 'Animals' is the one I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/after-a-lifetime-of-listening-to-every-floyd-album-pretty-much-all/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [“Wholes subscend their parts, which means that parts are not just mechanical components of wholes, and that there can be genuine surprise and novelty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/wholes-subscend-their-parts-which-means-that-parts-are-not-just/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [Unfortunately, of course, guilt is an artifact of agricultural-age religion and is designed specifically to prevent humans from thinking and operating on a collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/unfortunately-of-course-guilt-is-an-artifact-of-agricultural-age/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [Always say less than you think you need. Inject some space into the conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/always-say-less-than-you-think-you-need-inject-some-space-into-the/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [In the end, a lifeform is always a hybrid, a being endowed with some X-power such as being able to breathe for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/in-the-end-a-lifeform-is-always-a-hybrid-a-being-endowed-with-some-x/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [“I call this double truth of a thing its fragility, the inner fragility of a thing is why a thing can exist at all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/i-call-this-double-truth-of-a-thing-its-fragility-the-inner-fragility/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [“Solidarity requires having something in common. But having something in common is exactly what culturalism sees as essentialism, and thus as reactionary primitivism. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/solidarity-requires-having-something-in-common-but-having-something/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [Spending some money on the you who is going to get a job is essential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/spending-some-money-on-the-you-who-is-going-to-get-a-job-is-essential/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [I try to have little or no alcohol when I go to a big conference. Sorry to be a party pooper, but that stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/i-try-to-have-little-or-no-alcohol-when-i-go-to-a-big-conference/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [I grew up in a haunting postindustrial landscape where prehistoric ferns grew among tens of railway tracks surmounted by brilliant arc lights where birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/i-grew-up-in-a-haunting-postindustrial-landscape-where-prehistoric/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) > [I'm the absolute worst at getting jobs, ever. I had 100 rejections before I landed one. I kept all the letters in a folder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-morton/i-m-the-absolute-worst-at-getting-jobs-ever-i-had-100-rejections/) [Timothy Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) [Explore all 114 Timothy Morton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-morton/) ## More Haunted quotes > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [“...the haunted always take refuge in stillness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/the-haunted-always-take-refuge-in-stillness/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [I don't like haunted houses or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-burrow/i-don-t-like-haunted-houses-or-anything-like-that/) [Joe Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-burrow/) > [I keep all my clothes on in House on Haunted Hill, Mary Jane's Last Dance, and The Way of the Gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taye-diggs/i-keep-all-my-clothes-on-in-house-on-haunted-hill-mary-jane-s-last/) [Taye Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taye-diggs/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [...you don't need ghosts to be haunted. Memory does that just fine without any supernatural help at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-don-t-need-ghosts-to-be-haunted-memory-does-that-just-fine/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“She haunted the makeup department until she was bored, then took a look around home furnishings. She wasn't ever going to get another dining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/she-haunted-the-makeup-department-until-she-was-bored-then-took-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Despite the way she rallied, the haunted look in her eyes was enough to break him, as lost and lonely as an abandoned child’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/despite-the-way-she-rallied-the-haunted-look-in-her-eyes-was-enough/) [Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/) > [“Every town has ‘THAT house’: the one that once held dark secrets. You know the house… the one no one will purchase? The one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/every-town-has-that-house-the-one-that-once-held-dark-secrets-you/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“..., imagine a loamy earth that starts with genocide, then adds a mix of further disease, wars, hurricanes, murder, great fires, dueling, insurrection and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/imagine-a-loamy-earth-that-starts-with-genocide-then-adds-a-mix-of/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“Darkness lingered in those blue eyes, like ghosts haunted him despite only the two of them standing in this cabin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/darkness-lingered-in-those-blue-eyes-like-ghosts-haunted-him-despite/) [Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/) > [“Your eyes remained haunted. Seeing something in the world that your mirth can not dissolve.” I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-cole/your-eyes-remained-haunted-seeing-something-in-the-world-that-your/) [Tillie Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-cole/) > [“The director said he's got a haunted soul and a natural sweetness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/the-director-said-he-s-got-a-haunted-soul-and-a-natural-sweetness/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [Hotels are really scary. There are a lot of haunted ones in L.A. that I want to check out. So many people come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-peters/hotels-are-really-scary-there-are-a-lot-of-haunted-ones-in-l-a-that-i/) [Evan Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-peters/) [Browse all 398 Haunted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haunted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The present is haunted by the X-present. 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