From Robert Grudin’s Time and the Art of Living:

„Every time we postpone some necessary event whether we put off doing
the dinner dishes till morning or defer an operation or some difficult labor or
study – we do so with the implication that present time is more important than
future time… There is nothing wrong with this, as long as we know what
we are doing, and as long as the present indeed holds some opportunity more
important than the task we delay… Seen more extensively, habitual delay
can clutter our lives, leave us in the annoying position of always having to do
yesterdays chores. Disrespect for the future is a subtly poisonous disrespect
for self, and forces us, paradoxically enough, to live in the past.“ 

Auszug aus Mustich: 1000 Books to Read bevor You Die

Time and the Alt of Living
Robert Grudin (born 1938)
Savoring the Past, tlie Present, and the Future
It’s a rare book that brings more meaning to one’s daily life; this is one. An amalgam of philosophy, advice, speculation, aphorism, and anecdote, Robert Grudin’s text is posed in numbered paragraphs, each one self-contained, eacli turning the idea of time—which, as Grudin shows, comprehends, contradicts, and can comfort us as well—to a particular angle for examination and reflection. Whether discussing alarm clock time or eternity, a game of Scrabble or letter writing, Romeo and Juliet or an idyllic autumn spent in the Tuscan hills, Grudin has an easy way of exposing kerneis of insight. Like all good teachers (until 1998 he was a professor of English at the University of Oregon), he develops one theme into many, revealing how time informs our understanding of freedom, Science, nature, literature, history, art, morality, politics, identity, growth, and aging—and how our attention to time can enhance such simple pleasures as sitting around talking, too.

Time and the Art of Living lends itself to slow, bit-by-bit, never-ending reading. Open it to any page for even a moment and its wisdom will sharpen your awareness: You’ll see into the meanings of your past, present, and future in surprising, useful, and sometimes exhilarating ways. This playful, profound book on the medium and measure of our lives may prove to be one of the most practical and philosophically rewarding books you’ll ever read. Make time for it.

What: Philosophy. Advice. When: 1982. Reading Note: An excellent bedside book or early morning companion. Also By: Time and the Art of Living is the first volume of a loose trilogy that continues with The Grace of Great Things: Creativity and Innovation (1990) and On Dialogue: An Essay in Free Thought (1996). Try: How Proust Can Cahnge Your Life by Alain de Botton.

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