Definitions HQ

The Past (n.) you ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠want to bury, why lug it around with you in a suitcase?

The Past (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no longer stand up for itself — so who but you can know what you really wanted?

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the ever growing totality of the in-itself which we are; by death the for-itself slips into it entirely.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a luxury of landlords: no one pockets a past; you need a house to keep it in.

The Past (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠someone else is beyond me if I have not the strength to hold to my own: how can I hope to save it?

The Past (n.) swallowed ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠three years all at once when Anny left: I didn't even suffer, I felt emptied out, and now my past is an enormous vacuum.

The Past (n.) binds ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the whole of a life: to deny my solidarity with it at one point is to affirm it for the whole of my life.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a pensioning off where each event, its part played, politely becomes an honorary event in a box; we have so much difficulty imagining nothingness.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠lived, not owned — I do not have it; I am it. Mention yesterday's mood and I am hurt or flattered, touched to the quick.

The Past (n.) dies ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a second time the moment you say it does not exist: a historical figure's letters become a bundle of yellow pages, and his bones a little phosphate and calcium carbonate.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the safe place for perfect moments: arrange what happened, give it a few prods, and from that distance it makes a whole string of them you can almost live inside.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠what has consumed its possibilities: I must be it with no possibility of not being it, and assume total responsibility for it as if I could change it.

The Past (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a double alibi in bad faith: one man freezes himself at one period of his life ("I am what I have been"), another, faced with reproach, insists on his perpetual re-creation ("I am not what I have been").

The Past (n.) stays ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only because the present sustains it — "Paul was fatigued" means the present Paul is responsible for having had this fatigue; if he did not sustain it with his being, it would not even be forgotten; it would be lost.