The golden age is before us, not behind us.

Although often attributed to Shakespeare, this aphorism expresses a forward-looking optimism: the ideal era is not a lost past to be mourned but a future to be made. It pushes back against nostalgia and the common “decline from a golden past” narrative, suggesting that human progress—moral, political, or cultural—can surpass what came before. In that sense, it functions as a rhetorical spur to action: if the best age lies ahead, then present effort and reform are meaningful. The line is frequently used in speeches and essays to frame hope as a choice and to justify innovation over restoration.