And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)
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Comparing the tale of Lot's wife with his own retrospective look at WW2 and the firebombing of Dresden.
Quotations about:
retrospection
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that it has been unimportant in the sum of things.
Murray Kempton (1917–1997) American journalist.
Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 5 (1955)
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It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Journals IV.A.164 (1843)
Commonly paraphrased: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-09-20), “The New South,” Mosque Auditorium, Richmond, Virginia
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