What does the quote What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us mean?

Answer 1

It means that you shouldn't let what happened in the past bother you, or worry about what the future holds for you. Because neither are as important as the strength of character you have that will help you overcome both your past demons and future worries.

Or at least that's how I interpret that.

I would like to add a bit more about this:

A sea shell found at the shore when is brought to an ear, makes us feel that the whole of the ocean is within it; it roars in such a way: the same is with we humans. As we find the whole of the ocean as if within the shell: the whole of the ocean the shell is found at, we humans have within us the power of the whole of the universe, we live in and perhaps it's even more.

This is perhaps an other way of interpreting the same statement in terms of capabilities.

Answer 2

We are not our past, not the future to come; our mistakes are just a glimpse, a far away star in our very own universe. What matters, is our inner essence, i.e. what lies within us. But we shall not forget that what build us lies indeed in our minor setbacks. Learning and growing via our mistakes, do feed our inner-self but do not -at all- define us. Let's see oneself naked (true one), unwrapped in clothes (choices).

This is how I read Olivier Wendell Holmes' quote (writer, doctor, poet from the 19th Century).

Answer 3

It means that who we are and how we act, what we do, mean more then our past or our future. they were our decisions, smart or dumb, but they arent US.

or, what we have done, or what we will do in the future- is nothing compared to what we think about, what goes on in our minds and what we have the capability to do...

Answer 4

It means that your past and where you come from, and the hardships that you will face in the future don't control what you can achieve in life. Who you are is all about you not your circumstances.

Answer 5

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Answer 6

Type your answer here... Albert Einstein