People are always shouting they want to create a better future. It's not true. The future is an apathetic void of no interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past. They are fighting for access to the laboratories where photographs are retouched and biographies and histories rewritten.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- He argues that people claim to shape the future, but the future is indifferent; they actually want to rewrite the past.
- In plain terms
- People want to control the future to change how we see the past.
- What can you take from it?
- Attempts to master the future often mask a desire to alter history.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we cling to rewriting history?
- Can we accept an indifferent future?
Another view
The view may overgeneralize motivations behind progress.
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