[Ads-l] Quote: The Past Is History. The Future Is a Mystery. Today Is a Gift. That=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99s_Why_It=E2=80=99s_?=Called the Present

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

List member LH inquired about the saying in the subject line. Here is
another version:

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s
why we call it the present.

The earliest close match I've found appeared in "The Central New
Jersey Home News" newspaper of New Brunswick, New Jersey on June 14,
1993.

Here are links to the article.
Full: https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/1775744f60f4
Abbreviated: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/07/26/past-history/

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Laurence Horn whose inquiry led QI to
formulate this question and perform this exploration. Horn heard an
instance spoken by ESPN host Tony Reali. Thanks also to Barry Popik
for his pioneering research on this topic. He located the August 1993
citation with wordplay, the August 1994 “Family Circus” citation, and
other valuable citations.

Garson

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