Regardless of how intensely and pleasurably Epicurus advocated the quality of the present, we have to clearly admit that such a present does not really exist. As soon as one utters the word ‘now’, this now and all that it is meant to comprise, has vanished and belongs to the past. Faust’s longing for the beautiful moment not to pass on (‘please stay’) can hence not be fulfilled.

Everything passes on and only the past remains, becoming filled with content, which leads to the inevitable necessity to learn about the past and to try to understand it – so that the alleged present becomes more beautiful at least.