Do not try to find the past again in the future.

The lyrical narrator, in André Gide, Fruits of the Earth (1897)

Genuine

Yes. In Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre II, said by the lyrical narrator. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Gide’s own voice.

Found word for word by program in the French original.

The English is our own translation, not yet reviewed: there is no public-domain translation of this text in our sources.

Checked against André Gide, Les Nourritures terrestres, deuxième édition (Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1897), French transcription on Wikisource, Livre II, in a full-text transcription.

The wording people share differs slightly from the text; the words in the text are underlined below.

Work
Fruits of the Earth (Les Nourritures terrestres), 1897
Where
Livre II
Found at
Paragraph 193 of the French text
Translation
Our own, not yet reviewed (no public-domain translation in our sources)
Source
André Gide, Les Nourritures terrestres, deuxième édition (Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1897), French transcription on Wikisource, Livre II
Checked
In a full-text transcription

Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check

On the page

¶192 fr

Ne désire jamais, Nathanaël, regoûter les eaux du passé.

¶193 fr

Nathanaël, ne cherche pas, dans l’avenir, à retrouver jamais le passé.1 Saisis de chaque instant sa nouveauté irressemblable et ne prépare pas tes joies — ou sache qu’en son lieu préparé te surprendra une joie autre.

¶194 fr

Que n’as-tu donc compris que tout bonheur est de rencontre et se présente à toi dans chaque instant comme un mendiant sur ta route. […]

¶195 fr

Le rêve de demain est une joie — mais la joie de demain en est une autre — et rien heureusement ne ressemble au rêve qu’on s’en était fait, car c’est différemment que vaut chaque chose.

our translation
English, our own translation (not yet reviewed)

Nathanaël, do not try, in the future, ever to find the past again. Grasp each moment’s unlike-any-other newness, and do not prepare your joys—or know that, in the place prepared for it, a different joy will surprise you.

The scene

An evocation of David longing for the water of Bethlehem leads into a warning not to taste the waters of the past again. The narrator tells Nathanaël to welcome the newness of the present instead of arranging for a remembered pleasure to recur. The following paragraph says that happiness comes as an encounter and may be missed if admitted only in the form one had imagined.

What it means

A future joy need not repeat an earlier one. Expecting an exact repetition can prevent us from recognizing what the present actually offers.

Often misread

This is not a command to forget one’s history or to suppress grief. It is an invitation to stop making new experiences conform to a previous picture of happiness.

Also shared as

  • A misquotationNe cherche pas, dans l’avenir, à retrouver jamais le passé. Saisis de chaque instant la nouveauté irremplaçable. The circulation page changes the 1897 text’s « sa nouveauté irressemblable » to « la nouveauté irremplaçable » and drops Nathanaël’s name. The original above preserves the checked 1897 wording. Where it was seen

Topics

Life, Happiness, Emotions, Time, Change, Wisdom

Related quotes

Sources

Cite it

André Gide, Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre II, our own translation. Spoken by the lyrical narrator. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/do-not-seek-the-past-again-in-the-future/ (31 October 2026).

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Checked by people

People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.

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