APAD: You can't go home again

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning: If you try to return to a place from your past it won't be the same as

it was.

 

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It sounds like another version of "one does not step in the same river twice."

 

My friend Bill used to be a sucker for many useless sentimental songs rehashing

similar ideas, e.g., "you can no longer go back to the past." He couldn't get

enough of the tear-jerking lyrics delivered in simple yet bitter-sweet melodies.

Invariably, they seemed to tell him that he was the victim, the abandoned, the

rejected, and the disinherited and he was entitled to indulge in self-pity. For

a naive, senstitive youth with some inferiority complex, that music was as

powerful as bolts of lightning and as addictive as a drug.

 

In comparision, the epitaph of the pagan philosopher Epictetus should cheer everyone up:

 

    Here lies Epictetus,

    a slave maimed in body,

    the ultimate in poverty,

    and favored by the gods.

暖冬cool夏
回不去的从前!Great writing! I‘ve to go home again this new year:))
盈盈一笑间
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead

Philippians 3:13-14  

盈盈一笑间
I want to go back to China to visit my parents too. :)
盈盈一笑间
The epitaph of the pagan philosopher Epictetus is impressive
唐宋韵
This is why I'm not a fan of visiting China frequently,
7
7grizzly
I used to get 'Philippians' and 'Philippines' mixed up :-)
7
7grizzly
You both are lucky. Enjoy!
唐宋韵
...given that many things there seem dazzling.
7
7grizzly
Nor do I but for another reason.

I'd prefer to stay a few months or even years at one place.

w
waterfowl
Nothing stays the same
7
7grizzly
I always thought so :-) It's worth repeating.
7
7grizzly
Thank you.
7
7grizzly
as a song claims: Only you can say what you gonna do.
卫宁
”one does not step in the same river twice“ more popular:))
7
7grizzly
and "you can't go home again" sounds briefer &more idiomatic
g
godog
物是人非?
7
7grizzly
物非人也非 :-)))