How does the never to be differ from the never was?

Answer 1

The never to be is something that never will occur, whereas the never was is something that has never occurred. They are both non-existent - however, the universe is entropic and is always moving into the future.

From a subjective perspective, the never to be is something that you can prepare for: you can prepare for what might happen, and you can prepare for what might not happen.

From an objective perspective, the universe is not deterministic: inherent quantum uncertainties (the Heisenberg Principle) describe this. Therefore, we can only predict to very high probabilities what will be and will never be. Therefore while both are non-existent, the non-existent future might stilll happen. A non-existent past never has existed (but may still happen, in which it become an existent past). In this instance the never was is not the never to be. It never was and never will be. There's irony for you.

If the non-existent past never has and never will occur, then the never was is the never to be.

So to sum up:

They are both non-existent.

They are the same if the non-existent past will never occur/the non-existent future never has occurred.

They are different when the non-existent future has occurred in the past.

Answer 2

"Never to be" refers to something that will never exist or happen in the future, while "never was" refers to something that did not exist or happen in the past. The former is about a potential future event, while the latter is about a past event that did not occur.