#retrospect

Righteousness is easy in retrospect. ↗

— Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

#retrospect #righteousness

What was I supposed to do then I wondered. Was there even a supposed-to for this kind of situation? A situation when when I looked at my receding past everything seemed retrospectively marked by an extreme order and predictability yet all moments since seemed to obey, and promised to continue obeying, their own set of stochastic, undisclosed, and undiscoverable laws. Where I was fully aware of the pitfalls and folly of a finely-tuned narcissism but still the known universe seemed to bend and bend inexorably inward and towards me where it awaited my next move, supremely ready to react accordingly. And how I knew that decisions I would soon make or defer would have near-Sophoclean import and yet nonetheless it all seemed oddly irrelevant. ↗

— Sergio De La Pava

#future #life #past #retrospective #uncertainly

I've been asked to do a retrospective since I was about 28 and I always thought that was a bit odd. It's great to look forward as an artist because in the future the possibilities are infinite; you look back and it's all fixed so it's a scary thing. ↗

— Damien Hirst

#always #artist #asked #back #because

Even with all the advantages of retrospect, and a lot of witnesses dead and gone, you can't make your life look as if you intended it or you were consistent. All you can show is how you dealt with various hands. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#consistent #dead #dealt #even #gone

All religions have periods in their history which are looked back to with retrospective fear and trembling as eras of persecution, and each religion has its own book of martyrs. ↗

— Richard Le Gallienne

#book #each #eras #fear #history

No endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect; if it is right, it will be simple in retrospect. ↗

— Edward Teller

#prospect #retrospect #right #simple #will

Sure, I've been a victim, but in retrospect, most of it has been of my own making. I allowed it to happen. ↗

— Wayne Newton

#been #happen #i #making #most

The retrospective glance is a relatively easy gesture for us to make. ↗

— George Crumb

#gesture #glance #make #relatively #retrospective

I get anxious about a lot of things, that's the trouble. I get anxious about everything. I just can't stop thinking about things all the time. And here's the really destructive part - it's always retrospective. I waste time thinking of what I should have said or done. ↗

— Hugh Laurie

#always #anxious #destructive #done #everything

In retrospect there were failures enough to go around. There were failures before the storm and failures after the storm. ↗

— Jeff Sessions

#around #before #enough #failures #go