The Past

Man... cannot learn to forget, but hangs on the past: however far or fast he runs, that chain runs with him.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.

-Simone Weil

"Forgive and forget" is a common saying these days; I frequently hear it all the time. It is a nice saying; that is, it would be nice to be able to forgive and forget. The thing is, though, why must we forget the past? Should we forget the past? Further, is it even really possible to forget the past?

An individual's past has a great influence on the individual, especially in his or her youngest years. What we experience as children and youth cannot be forgotten, for the past lives in us. Even as we get older and wiser, our past still remains in us and influences us. From this perspective, it really seems hard to forget the past. Actually, I think one could even say that it is impossible to forget the past.

But why should we even forget the past in the first place? Can we not learn from the past? We can learn what to do and what not to do. If someone in one's family cheats on his or her spouse, should we not learn from that? I'm not talking about a moral issue here, or a religious issue (Right now, I'm not really sure morals do us any good). But when one sees the pain, suffering, and depression one causes another by cheating on him or her, should we not learn from this? We should learn not to do this. Not because this is a moral issue (I don't really think it is), but because we should not cause another unwanted pain or suffering. On the other hand, we should remember the past because it can teach us how to live our lives, and we can learn about knowledge that has already been discovered. There are many good virtues to be derived from one's past. Clearly, we should not forget our past even if we could. The past can teaches us many things.

Why must we forget the past? Well, probably because most people tend to dwell on the past. If someone betrays you, you will judge that person based on the betrayal for the rest of your life. You will never let go of the betrayal; it will remain with you forever. So, in order to not dwell on the past, we are supposed to forget the past. As stated above, to forget the past is impossible. Plus, we need the past: we must learn from the past in order to better ourselves individually and society as a whole. But really, if one dwells on the past wrongdoings done to him or her, one really isn't forgiving. We can both forgive an individual for a wrongdoing and remember the past. If one is dwelling on a particular event caused by a particular individual, then one has not actually forgiven the individual of his or her wrongdoing.

From situations of the past, we must forgive and not forget. We must remember our past and paint a picture that accurately describes the past. To paint a picture without the true past, is to paint a wishful and meaningless picture: the picture will only compromise of the happiness of the past and never of the pain and suffering of the past, thus the picture will not accurately describe one's past.  Forgive--but do not forget.