Eleanor Roosevelt? Barbara De Angelis? Joan Rivers? Bill Keane? Emily Dickinson? Liz Curtis Higgs? Babatunde Olatunji? Susan Barkdoll? Nicholas L. Santowassa? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: A rhyming series of statements highlight the uncertainty of the future and the desirability of appreciating the present. Here are two versions:
(1) The past is history. The future is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
(2) Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.
This saying has been attributed to social activist Eleanor Roosevelt, relationship counselor Barbara De Angelis, comedian Joan Rivers, cartoonist Bill Keane, and others. I have been unable to find solid citations. Would you please help?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest strong match located by QI appeared in a speech delivered at a graduation ceremony in June 1993 at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey. The speaker was a member of the Board of Trustees, but he credited an unnamed journalist. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Quoting a former journalist, he said, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, and that is why it’s called the present.”
QI has found no substantive evidence supporting the ascription to Eleanor Roosevelt who died in 1962. The earliest attribution to Roosevelt located by QI appeared in 1999.
QI believes that this statement evolved over time. The segment containing the rhyming words “history” and “mystery” evolved separately from the segment with wordplay based on “gift” and “present”. The two segments were subsequently combined. The creator remains anonymous.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
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