Lewis H. Lapham - Future Quotes

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To acknowledge the truth of the old Arab proverb that says we have less reason to fear what might happen tomorrow than to beware what happened yesterday is also to say that we have more reason to look to the past — history as the phoenix in the attic — for the hope of the future.

Lewis H. Lapham

We have nothing else with which to build the future except the lumber of the past — history exploited as a natural resource and applied technology, telling us that the story painted on the old walls and printed in the old books is also our own.

Lewis H. Lapham

Construed as a means instead of an end, history is the weapon with which we defend the future against the past.

Lewis H. Lapham

Surely they knew that the very idea of the future came in an American box - complete with instructions for assembling a Constitution, a MacDonald's hamburger franchise, a row of Marriot hotels and a First Amendment.

Lewis H. Lapham