Trust No Future, However Pleasant

13thMonkey · August 1, 2009

So I was just looking through the old Life Comes From Life book and at one point Srila Prabhupada says in quotes "Trust No Future, however pleasant." He was explaining how scientists always say "In the future we will..." So I thought that was an interesting quote and looked it up.

Its from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the famous American poet. The full statement is as follows:

"Trust no future, however pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act, - act in the living Present! Heart within and God overhead."

It got me to thinking about other phrases Srila Prabhupada would say. For instance, he often quoted Cowper with "God made the country, and man made the town." And of course Napoleon with "Impossible is a word in a fool's dictionary."

theist · August 1, 2009

So I was just looking through the old Life Comes From Life book and at one point Srila Prabhupada says in quotes "Trust No Future, however pleasant." He was explaining how scientists always say "In the future we will..." So I thought that was an interesting quote and looked it up.

Its from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the famous American poet. The full statement is as follows:

"Trust no future, however pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act, - act in the living Present! Heart within and God overhead."

It got me to thinking about other phrases Srila Prabhupada would say. For instance, he often quoted Cowper with "God made the country, and man made the town." And of course Napoleon with "Impossible is a word in a fool's dictionary."

Never heard the whole quote before. I like it.

Here's one from Bhaktivinode Thakur along the same line.

"Forget the past it sleeps,

And ner the future dream at all.

Act in times that are with thee,

And progress thee shall call."