“Presence of mind is an abstract of the future, and precise awareness of the present moment more decisive than foreknowledge of the most distant events.”
– Walter Benjamin, “Madame Ariane: Second Courtyard on the Left,” in One-Way Street (London: New Left Books, 1969), 98-99. – cited by George Lipsitz, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness — Lipsitz, G. (2005). The possessive investment in whiteness. In P. S. Rothenberg (Ed.), White privilege: Essential readings on the other side of racism (Ch 5). New York: Worth Publishers, pp. 67-90.
