“We're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. It's pretty dense kids who haven't figured that out by the time they're ten.... Most kids can't afford to go to Harvard and be misinformed.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

“The day we forget the horror, Sam, we will repeat it. Never forget your past. It will make you less human, less than human.”
― Katherine Reay, Dear Mr. Knightley

“Humility is a virtue of the heavenly, not arrogance. Are we the most superior beast on earth? No, not in strength and not in intelligence. It is very arrogant to assume that we are the most intelligent species when we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Both rats and monkeys have been shown to learn from error, yet we have not. More people have died in the name of religion than any other cause on earth. Is massacring God’s creations really serving God – or the devil? And what father would want to see his children constantly divided and fighting? What God would allow a single human life to be sacrificed for monetary gain? Again, the Creator or the devil?”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED: RELIVING DISSOCIATED EXPERIENCES

The reexperiencing of previously dissociated traumatic events presents in a variety of complex ways. The central principle is that dissociated experiences often do not remain dormant. Freud's concept of the “repetition compulsion” is enormously helpful in understanding how dissociated events are later reexperienced. In his paper, "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," Freud (1920/ 1955) described how repressed (and dissociated) trauma and instinctual conflicts can become superimposed on current reality. He wrote:

The patient cannot remember the whole of what is repressed in him, and what he cannot remember may be precisely the essential part of it. .. . He is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of remembering it as something in the past. (p. 18)

If one understands repression as the process in which overwhelming experiences are forgotten, distanced, and dissociated, Freud posited that these experiences are likely to recur in the mind and to be reexperienced. He theorized that this "compulsion to repeat" served a need to rework and achieve mastery over the experience and that it perhaps had an underlying biologic basis as well. The most perceptive tenet of Freud’s theory is that previously dissociated events are actually reexperienced as current reality rather than remembered as occurring in the past. Although Freud was discussing the trauma produced by intense intrapsychic conflict, clinical experience has shown that actual traumatic events that have been dissociated are often repeated and reexperienced.”
― James A. Chu, Rebuilding Shattered Lives: Treating Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders

“If they weren't nice to you when you were growing up, you'll probably be attracted to partners who aren't nice to you now.”
― Kate McGahan

“At first, like a lot of trauma survivors, I was impatient and wanted immediate results. Once I caught myself in this behavior, I realized that it takes consistent commitment to heal patterns. After three or four months, I noticed a huge positive shift within myself. I felt a new level of happiness and contentment that I hadn't even known existed. I finally understood how my old trauma patterns had attracted drama in my present life. once I saw this dynamic, I made a conscious decision to "Drama Detox," and the patterns faded away.”
― Doreen Virtue

“Every end of every day is the most important time of that day because you confront with your past and you obtain a chance for tomorrow not to repeat your past mistakes!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“The philosopher and historian George Santayana once remarked that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. A perusal of some of the essays will reveal that this is not always true. In some cases psychologists have known about mistakes of the past and sought to repeat them. But the recurrence can sometimes be fruitful: going round in circles can be a good thing, provided the circle is large that when one returns to the task one sees it in a new light and the error brings new insights.”
― Noel Sheehy, Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology

“We often get into ruts, on treadmills, caught up in patterns and habits that aren't useful. We don't stop to ask, what can I learn from this week that will keep next week from essentially being a repeat of the same?”
― Stephen R. Covey, First Things First Every Day: Daily Reflections- Because Where You're Headed Is More Important Than How Fast You Get There

“Pinch of pain gives you tear!
Repeat!
Pinch of pain gives you strength! Repeat!
A pinch of pain gives you strength to overcome the big pain.”
― Ar. Harpreet Singh

“...Оттогава тя се отдава на очарованията на тези родства, на тези бегли съприкосновения на настоящето и миналото, търси тези отгласи, тези съответствия, тези съзвучия, които я карат да чувства дистанцията между онова, което е било, и това, което е, времевото измерение (така ново, така удивително) на живота си; има чувството, че по този начин излиза от юношеството, че става зряла, възрастна, което за нея означава: става тази, която е опознала времето, което е оставила къс от живота си зад себе си и може да обърне глава, за да го погледне.
Един ден вижда новия си любовник да тича към нея със синьо сако и си спомня, че първият й любовник също й харесваше със синьо сако. Друг път, гледайки я в очите, той възхвалява красотата им с много необичаен метафоричен израз; тя е възхитена, защото първият й любовник и бе казал за очите й, дума по дума, същата необичайна фраза. Тези съвпадения я пленяват. Никога не се чувства така пропита с красота, както когато носталгията по отминалата й любов се смесва с изненадите на новата й любов. Нафлуването на някогашния любовник в историята, която в момента преживява, за нея не е тайна изневяра, а още повече увеличава нежността й към този, който върви до нея.
Като по-възрастна тя ще види в тези прилики жалкото еднообразие на индивидите (които, за да се целунат, се спират всички на едни и същи места, имат едни и същи вкусове за дрехи, ласкаят жената с една и съща метафора) и уморителната монотонност на събитията (които са само вечно повторение на същото); но през юношеството си приема тези повторения като чудо и е нетърпелива да разгадае значенията им. Фактът, че днешният й любовник странно прилича на някогашния, го прави още по-изключителен, още по-оригинален и тя вярва, че по тайнствен начин той е предопределен за нея.”
― Milan Kundera, Ignorance

“was driving up S 25th St., this afternoon, and saw this saying on a sign: "Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror."

Well, I pondered on that a bit. I sense a bit of danger with the idea of not checking out the rear view mirror on occasion. Like driving, it is important we know what has been and what could be coming from behind.

Some old cliches are around because they are true..."If you forget the past, you're bound to repeat it."...."Be prepared"... "Keep your eye on the prize."

Reflections ... Presence ... Aspirations ...”
― F. M. Proctor 'Madame Mim'

“...Оттогава тя се отдава на очарованията на тези родства, на тези бегли съприкосновения на настоящето и миналото, търси тези отгласи, тези съответствия, тези съзвучия, които я карат да чувства дистанцията между онова, което е било, и това, което е, времевото измерение (така ново, така удивително) на живота си; има чувството, че по този начин излиза от юношеството, че става зряла, възрастна, което за нея означава: става тази, която е опознала времето, което е оставила къс от живота си зад себе си и може да обърне глава, за да го погледне.
Един ден вижда новия си любовник да тича към нея със синьо сако и си спомня, че първият й любовник също й харесваше със синьо сако. Друг път, гледайки я в очите, той възхвалява красотата им с много необичаен метафоричен израз; тя е възхитена, защото първият й любовник и бе казал за очите й, дума по дума, същата необичайна фраза. Тези съвпадения я пленяват. Никога не се чувства така пропита с красота, както когато носталгията по отминалата й любов се смесва с изненадите на новата й любов. Нахлуването на някогашния любовник в историята, която в момента преживява, за нея не е тайна изневяра, а още повече увеличава нежността й към този, който върви до нея.
Като по-възрастна тя ще види в тези прилики жалкото еднообразие на индивидите (които, за да се целунат, се спират всички на едни и същи места, имат едни и същи вкусове за дрехи, ласкаят жената с една и съща метафора) и уморителната монотонност на събитията (които са само вечно повторение на същото); но през юношеството си приема тези повторения като чудо и е нетърпелива да разгадае значенията им. Фактът, че днешният й любовник странно прилича на някогашния, го прави още по-изключителен, още по-оригинален и тя вярва, че по тайнствен начин той е предопределен за нея.”
― Milan Kundera, Ignorance

“In this paper I propose the existence of two distinct presentations of DID, a Stable and an Active one. While people with Stable DID struggle with their traumatic past, with triggers that re-evoke that past and with the problems of daily functioning with severe dissociation, people with Active DID are, in addition, also engaged in a life of current, on-going involvement in abusive relationships, and do not respond to treatment in the same way as other DID patients. The paper observes these two proposed DID presentations in the context of other trauma-based disorders, through the lens of their attachment relationship. It proposes that the type, intensity and frequency of relational trauma shape—and can thus predict—the resulting mental disorder.
- Through the lens of attachment relationship: Stable DID, Active DID and other trauma-based mental disorders”
― Adah Sachs

“Having lived in a mythical country, a place neither here nor there, these intellectuals from Vilna and Gomel helped create another and called it the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Such a name! It was hardly a union. The Soviets - workers’ councils - ruled it for about six weeks; socialism impoverished everybody, and only machine guns kept the republics from turning into nations. But to Szarza and the rest it didn’t matter. He’d put his life on the line, preferring simply to die at the wrong end of a gun rather than the wrong end of a club, and for twelve years - until 1929, when Stalin finally took over - he lived in a kind of dream world, a mythical country where idealistic, intellectual Jews actually ran things, quite literally a country of the mind. Theories failed, peasants died, the land itself dried up in despair. Still they worked twenty hours a day and swore they had the answer.”
― Alan Furst, Dark Star

“Unless we learn from living, how are we going to keep from doing the same things- making the same mistakes, struggling with the same problems- week after week?”
― Stephen R. Covey, First Things First Every Day: Daily Reflections- Because Where You're Headed Is More Important Than How Fast You Get There

“The unequivocal truths of human existence lies in the behavioral patterns entrenched in history.”
― Zephyr McIntyre