The Past (n.) never finally dies in the psyche — even Paul kept his thorn in the flesh — and whoever flees into the new is as neurotic as whoever regresses into the old: one is estranged from the past, the other from the future.
The Past (n.) is held in contempt by every newly risen consciousness, which can now finally see the lower state — as God looked down on "the times of ignorance."
The Past (n.) loses nothing, not even the blood pact with the devil: outwardly forgotten, inwardly not at all.
The Past (n.) serves the neurotic as an alibi: his neurosis often consists precisely in hanging back and excusing himself on account of it.
The Past (n.) has stopped being real and the future is less real than we suppose, so we need intuition to light what lies round the corners.