The past is a distraction, a source of envy, enmity, bitterness. Only the present matters, for only in the present can we shape the future. Cut loose the past; it is dead weight. Let the Extirpation continue. Let it never end.

Stephen Baxter
About This Quote

The past is a distraction, a source of envy, enmity, bitterness. Only the present matters, for only in the present can we shape the future.Cut loose the past; it is dead weight.Let the Extirpation continue. Let it never end. This quote is from David Foster Wallace’s essay “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S.

Fiction.” In this essay he is speaking about how television has become a distraction from life, a source of envy and enmity among people. He is also saying that we should live in the present and not dwell on the past or what may come in the future. It is better to focus on what we can control in our lives rather than what we cannot control or make us feel angry or angry at ourselves for things that have already happened in our lives.

Source: Exultant

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More Quotes By Stephen Baxter
  1. The past is a distraction, a source of envy, enmity, bitterness. Only the present matters, for only in the present can we shape the future. Cut loose the past; it is dead weight. Let the Extirpation continue. Let it never end.
  2. A sentient mind refuses to be confined by the parameters of its programming.
  3. I have a vision of a Galaxy overrun by mankind from Core to rim. Of four hundred billion stars each enslaved to the rhythm of Earth's day, Earth's year. I have a vision of a trillion planets pulsing to the beat of a human heart.
  4. Sometimes people say that we're living in the future, and time's up for science fiction, but I think that never will be, because science fiction really isn't about the future. It's about change and present-day concerns
  5. This is a strange situation, sir. Perhaps imagination is what we need.
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