Original artwork, not a still
If we open up a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The warning imagines the past and present quarrelling until the future is lost. Its three time frames make the cost of the argument visible: attention spent on that conflict can consume what comes next. The line urges perspective about which battles deserve continued energy.
Context reviewed
