There are moments when we forget to live in the now and appreciate what is in front of us and around us. Instead, we focus too much on the future and what will and won’t happen, knowing that we have no control over life. George Harrison of the Beatles touches on this in today’s quote and talks about how important it is to stay in the present.
George Harrison quote of the day
“It’s important to be here now. There is no past, and there is no future. Time is a very deceptive thing. All that ever exists is the present. We can gain experience from the past, but we cannot recover it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if it exists.”This quote from Harrison was shared in the 1987 TV documentary interview, ‘It was Twenty Years ago Today’. The documentary was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’
What does the quote mean?
The lead guitarist of the Beatles said this quote to emphasize the importance of living in the present moment. “It’s important to be here now. There is no past, and there is no future,” he said, enjoying that all you have to take care of is right now.The past is already gone, and there is nothing you can do about it. When it comes to the future, although some choices may determine what happens next, it’s still up to you to understand yourself and not focus so much on what will happen that it forces you to forget what you have right now.He added that “time is a very deceptive thing”, sharing that there will be moments when he will feel that time is moving quickly, while at other times it is going too slowly; however, there is no difference. This in turn links to the concept of being in the present moment. The only time you can truly experience, breathe, or act is right now.He then concludes: “We can experience the past, but we cannot relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if it exists.” This means that the past is there for you to learn from your mistakes and find out what happened; however, you remember that it’s gone, it’s already done, and learning is all you can get out of it. He goes on to talk about the future, the only thing to understand about the future is that you expect it to go your way, you can only imagine things going well and being fine, yet you have no control over what will happen, not even in the next millisecond.Overall, Harrison talks about a philosophy of how important it is to appreciate your present and the people and things in it. Since the past is gone and you can’t do anything about the future, what’s here is the only thing that really matters.
More about George Harrison
George Harrison was a famous musician, singer and music producer who rose to prominence as the guitarist for The Beatles. He was one of the most popular members of the group and was actively known for his presence on stage.He joined the group when he was only 15 years old, at a time when rock and roll was still on the rise. He, however, brought his rock version to the band’s music through his guitar riffs. Later in his career, he was also credited with writing many of the band’s songs, including ‘Here Comes the Sun’, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Something’, to name a few.Harrison was also big on music and spirituality, and later even discovered the sitar, an Indian musical instrument. He sought out master Ravi Shankar, and the two became close friends for a long time, working together throughout their friendship.After the band broke up, Harrison released a triple album of songs that had never been released over the years. This project of his was called ‘All Things Must Pass’ and was hailed as one of his best works yet.He passed away in 2001, after being diagnosed with cancer. To this day, many fans around the world remember him and consider him one of the most profound and talented artists of this century.
