38 Quotes About the Past to Help You Get Over Bad Experiences

Although pain is inevitable at some point in life, suffering is a choice. We suffer because we do not want to let go of the bad experiences and people who have hurt us. We can live a happier and more fulfilling life if we forget about the past. However, letting go is not easy; it requires courage and the desire to be happy.

When you forgive people who have wronged you and let go of the bad feelings, you create new and joyful moments. Here are 38 Powerful quotes about the past that will help you to get over bad experiences.

​38 Quotes About the Past to Help You Get Over Bad Experiences

​Quotes About the Past That Will Inspire You to Forgive

#1. “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” —Thomas Szasz

#2. “How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.” —Publilius Syrus

#3. “Forgiving what we cannot forgive creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” —Lewis Smedes

#4. “When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” —Nelson Mandela

#5. “When you forgive, you in no way change the past—but you sure do change the future.” — Bernard Meltzer

#6. “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” —C.S. Lewis

#7. “Forgiveness is making a conscious decision to live in the present… even if the past still hurts.” —Karen Finn

#8. “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.” —Dr. Steve Maraboli

#9. “Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.” —Thomas S. Manson

​Quotes About the Past to Help You Deal with Painful Past Experiences

#10. “The past is a stepping stone, not a millstone.” —Robert Plant

#11. “The past has no power over the present moment.” —Eckhart Tolle

#12. “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” —John F. Kennedy

#13. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” —Buddha

#14. “I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today.” —Dwayne Johnson

#15. “The past is the beginning of the beginning and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.” —H.G Wells

#16. “The past explains how I got here, but the future is up to me—and I love to live life at full throttle.” —Janice Dickinson

#17. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” —Bill Keane

#18. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” —Thomas Jefferson

#19. “Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.” —Robin Sharma

​Quotes About the Past to Help You Let Go of Resentment

#20. “Hanging on to resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head.” — Ann Landers

#21. “What’s done is done.” —Hilliard MacBeth

#22. “There is a fine balance between honoring the past and losing yourself in it. For example, you can acknowledge and learn from mistakes you made, and then move on and refocus on the now. It is called forgiving yourself.” —Eckhart Tolle

#23. “I use memories, but I will not allow memories to use me.” —Deepak Chopra

#24. “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” — Mother Theresa

#25. “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” —Rick Warren

#26. “We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.” —George Washington

#27. “The past can’t hurt you anymore, not unless you let it.” —Alan Moore

#28. “The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” —Mary Pickford

​Quotes About the Past to Help You Learn from Your Past Experiences

#29. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” —Albert Einstein

#30. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” —George Santayana

#31. “Life is divided into three terms—that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.” —William Wordsworth

#32. “The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” —Walt Disney

#33. “The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.” —Thomas S. Monson.

#34. “Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn’t work in the past, break the chain that binds you to it.” —Marianne Williamson

#35. “Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.” —Denis Waitley

#36. “Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” —Denis Waitley

#37. “It is not ‘forgive and forget’ as if nothing wrong had ever happened, but ‘forgive and go forward,’ building on the mistakes of the past and the energy generated by reconciliation to create a new future.” —Alan Paton

#38. “Ruminating about the past will get you nowhere. So go ahead and learn from the past whatever you can, and then put it behind you. Remember, there is nothing you can do to change it, but you can use its lessons to improve your future.” —Abraham J. Twerski

​Final Thoughts

These quotes about the past teach us that we cannot move forward or achieve our life’s purpose if we hold on to our past experiences. Therefore, they should inspire you to let go of the bad experiences and bitterness that could be holding you back. Only then will you be able to realize your full potential and achieve your desires.

Also, these quotes should teach you to forgive but not forget the people who wronged you and how they made you feel. That way, you will be able to learn from your mistakes.