As I've always said: The future lies ahead.

The humorist and satirist Pat Paulsen, with his gentle irony and sharp wit, once declared: “As I’ve always said: The future lies ahead.” To the casual ear, these words sound simple — even absurdly obvious. But within this jest lies a subtle and profound wisdom, wrapped in humor yet carrying the weight of timeless truth. Paulsen, a master of parody who used laughter to reflect the follies of human thought, understood that often the simplest truths are the ones most easily forgotten. His words remind us that though the future always lies before us, it is not promised, and it does not shape itself — it waits for us to give it meaning.

In the manner of the ancients, let us look beneath the humor and discover the lesson hidden within. When Paulsen says that “the future lies ahead,” he is not merely playing with words — he is holding up a mirror to the human tendency to overcomplicate what is plain. We speak endlessly of destiny, of planning, of uncertainty, and yet the truth remains constant: the future comes only in one direction — forward. It does not dwell in regret, nor does it wait for hesitation. It is ever before us, moving with or without our will. To acknowledge this is to recognize that time flows, whether we act or stand still, and that the only true mistake is to live facing backward.

The origin of Paulsen’s quote lies in his lifelong craft of satire — of using humor to reveal truth. During his mock political campaigns and comedic speeches, he often took the language of seriousness and turned it upon itself, showing how easily people cloak the obvious in needless complexity. His statement, humorous as it seems, calls upon us to remember a vital truth: that the future, though mysterious, is built from the choices we make now. To say it “lies ahead” is to remind us that life moves only one way — that no man can reclaim the past, and no dream can bloom if one refuses to walk toward it.

Consider the ancient tale of Odysseus, who after the long war at Troy wandered the seas for years, yearning to return home. At times, he looked back to the glories of his past or the friends he had lost, and at other times he was tempted to rest upon distant shores. Yet only when he fixed his gaze forward — toward Ithaca, toward his purpose — did the gods grant him passage home. The wisdom of Paulsen’s jest lives in that same truth: the future always lies ahead, but we must have the courage to keep walking toward it. To stand still is to drift, and to look backward for too long is to lose the path entirely.

Paulsen’s humor, like all great wit, holds compassion. For he understood that humanity often hides its fears behind words. We speak of the future as though it were a distant land, unknowable and unreachable, when in truth it begins this very moment. His words gently mock our habit of delay — our tendency to speak of what will come “someday” instead of shaping it today. By saying the future “lies ahead,” he reminds us that it is not behind our excuses, nor beside our comforts — it lives just beyond the step we have not yet taken.

O seekers of wisdom, take this as your teaching: the future is not to be awaited — it is to be created. Each breath you draw is a step toward it. Each decision, however small, is a stone laid upon the road ahead. Do not be lulled by the illusion that time will wait for you, or that fate will deliver what you do not strive to earn. The path forward is yours to walk, whether it leads through triumph or trial. What matters is not that the future lies ahead, but that you have the courage to meet it head-on.

And so, let the jest of Pat Paulsen be remembered not merely for its humor, but for its quiet profundity. “The future lies ahead” — yes, it does, and it always will. But only those who rise to meet it will claim it as their own. Laugh, as Paulsen intended, but also reflect: behind every joke lies a whisper of truth. Do not linger in the shadows of what has been. Face the dawn. Step forward, even if your path is uncertain. For life, like the future itself, moves only in one direction — ever onward, ever ahead.