Time & Perspective Quote by Della Reese

Time does not negotiate in Della Reese's line; it simply moves on, indifferent to our plans. "Yesterday is gone" lands like a clean door-slam: no nostalgia tourism, no bargaining. Then she pivots to the real sting: "Tomorrow may be for us and it may not". The phrase is plainspoken, almost conversational, but its restraint is the point. Reese avoids melodrama because she doesn't need it; uncertainty is dramatic enough.

As a musician and performer who spent decades translating feeling into timing, breath, and phrasing, Reese understood how quickly a moment passes once it's been sung. The quote reads like backstage wisdom sharpened into philosophy: the show ends, the lights cut, and whatever happened onstage becomes instantly un-editable. That first sentence clears the emotional clutter of regret. The second refuses the false comfort of guaranteed redemption. Together they create a pressure chamber that makes the present matter without turning it into a self-help slogan.

The subtext is mortality, but also agency. "May be for us" suggests tomorrow isn't just a date on a calendar; it's a resource you might be granted, and what you do with it is your only real leverage. Coming from a Black woman who worked through eras that routinely limited who got "tomorrow" in the fullest sense - career opportunities, safety, longevity - the line carries a quiet edge. It's not asking you to seize the day; it's reminding you the day can be taken.