"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
— Lao Tzu
If You Are Depressed You Are
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.
About this quote
This saying is widely circulated under Lao Tzu's name, but researchers have traced it to a Brazilian motivational speaker, Junia Bretas, with the earliest known version appearing in Portuguese in April 2012 before being translated into English and falsely attributed to Lao Tzu. It does not appear in any translation of the Tao Te Ching or any other ancient Chinese text. The concept of present-moment awareness does appear in Taoist and Buddhist thought — the Tao Te Ching's Chapter 16 teaches returning to stillness — but this specific tripartite formulation is a modern composition.
Source
Attributed, based on Taoist teachings
