Other people’s lives come at us without a backstory most of the time. The present is like that. – Tom Stoppard
Continuous present is all we have, and stream of consciousness – which in a novel is arguably just as artificial as the stilted dialogue that you get in most conventional novels. They’re all stratagems to try to get closer to the texture of lived life. – Will Self
In reading, a lonely quiet concert is given to our minds; all our mental faculties will be present in this symphonic exaltation. – Stephane Mallarme
Regardless of its causes, thoughtlessly blaming the present is a weakness which, even if it is never outlawed, ought to be resisted. Though commonly flaunted as a sign of sophistication, it can be an opportunity for one-upmanship and an excuse for misanthropy, especially against the young. – Steven Pinker
I knew I had to write a good screenplay to be taken seriously, and I knew I needed to present Mississippi on visuals instead of just saying, ‘Hey I wanted to film it in Mississippi.’ It would seem like it was a hometown boy just wanting to be home. – Tate Taylor
In the present epoch of struggle between two worlds the two opposing and antagonistic trends penetrating the foundations of nearly all branches of biology are particularly sharply defined. – Trofim Lysenko
If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, it would have recollapsed before it reached its present size. On the other hand, if it had been greater by a part in a million, the universe would have expanded too rapidly for stars and planets to form. – Stephen Hawking
The African-American tradition, in the main, is very, very church-based, very, very Christian. It accepts, you know, certain narratives about the world. I didn’t really have that present in my house. – Ta-Nehisi Coates
I’m not sure I’m trying to communicate a message. I’m just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present. – Wole Soyinka
When you’re artistic director of a program, you present the music you want to present. – Stanley Crouch