pre existence, n.All

Pre-existence (n.) belongs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to the pure past: a past that was never present, already there before the present that passes, and causing it to pass.

Pre-existence (n.) as ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an idea is an absurdity: if Hamlet had pre-existed as a possibility in some mind, that mind would already have created it — it would be Shakespeare himself.