When we look to the past, Weil believes, what we are always looking for is whatever “is better than we are.” Some of us tend to look toward the future for what is better, but Weil thinks that “what is better than we are cannot be found in the future.” The reason is simply that the future does not exist. “The future is empty and is filled by our imagination. Our imagination can only picture a perfection on our own scale. It is just as imperfect as we are; it does not surpass us by a single hair’s breadth.” This brings to mind the old line about the great limitation of travel: Wherever you go,
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