APAD: "Time is the longest distance between two places"

最西边的岛上
楼主 (文学城)

"Time is the longest distance between two places." - Tennessee Williams 

The line is, "I didn't go to the moon, I went much further-- for time is the longest distance between two places."  It's from the end of the play, The Glass Menagerie. An aged version of the character Tom says it as a soliloquy to the audience as he reflects on his life. He's playing off the fact that his mother had dismissed his youthful exuberance by telling him, "Go, then! Then go to the moon--you selfish dreamer!"

In Tom's subsequent life, he doesn't go to the moon, but he does leave home in St. Louis and never returns.
- Source: online
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Near the end of our CA trip, we visited colourful Castro District in SF and enjoyed it very much. Not only we met some very friendly people (and their dogs), but felt the area is full of artist spirit, in addition to the wonderful smell from bakeries.

I was surprised and happy to see the image of Oscar Wilde on the sidewalk, as we have shared some of his wise words here in APAD. So I searched quotes by Tennessee Williams (who's image is also there) and found this interesting one as above.

But I failed to find a clear meaning of the quote, as people all seem to have their own ideas, based on their own lives.  Some say it means "that time is an insurmountable distance for those that have yearnings". Some say it means "things that you need, you crave for, and you hate are separated by time. No matter what we do, we can't go back to the place we started in the same condition and time. We can only move forward in time with assumption that we started just like new."

So, my friends, I will leave it as an open meaning APAD for you to chew on when you have time.
 

Wish you all a good Monday!

1. 

2.

 

3. Three happy singers (one local and two visitors from France). 

Note: they were strangers we met in the neighbourhood on the street when passing a house french song writer Maxime Le Forestier used to live in the 70s. They told us the story of that time and sang the popular song he worte there for us. Actually I took a video of their singing, with this photo as a capture from the video.

4. The song "San Francisco"

 

 

7
7grizzly
Hope the quote never becomes so popular that everyone but me
7
7grizzly
knows what it means :-)
最西边的岛上
hahaha, I'm worse. So will go 2 sweep mountain of leaves ;-)

最西边的岛上
btw, tried TartineBakery there (thx). very good croissants!!
移花接木
Is light-year a method to measure distances with time?
最西边的岛上
Yes, if go up in sapce ,2 infinite and beyond ;-))
7
7grizzly
Glad you liked it. The book "Cooked" raved about the baker.
最西边的岛上
No wonder it was still busy @ non-busy hours :-))
天边一片白云
If you have been away from home town for long time,
天边一片白云
time is the longest distance between you and the hometown.
天边一片白云
Nice song, though I don't understand French.
最西边的岛上
Wow, U r so Right 白云!!! Yes we were away 4 2 long months &
最西边的岛上
homeLooksSoDifferent thanWhatRemembered. so time == distance
最西边的岛上
me neither;-). E lyrics is below:

It's a blue house,
Backed up against the hillside.
We come there on foot, we don't knock,
People who live there threw away the key.

We meet together,
After years on the road.
And we come there to sit, around a meal,
Everyone is there, at five in the evening.

When San Francisco gets foggy,
When San Francisco lights up,
San Francisco, where have you gone?
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me!
 

Swimming in the fog,
Embracing, rolling on the grass,
We'll hear Tom on the guitar,
Phil on the quena, until darkest night.

Another will arrive,
To tell us news
About someone who'll return in a year or two,
Since he is happy, we will fall asleep.

When San Francisco awakens,
When San Francisco awakens,
San Francisco! Where are you?
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me!
 

It's a blue house,
Fixed in my memory.
We come there on foot, we don't knock,
People who live there threw away the key.

Populated by long-hairs,
Large beds and music.
Invaded with light, crowded with lunatics,
It will be the last to remain standing.

If San Francisco collapses,
If San Francisco collapses,
San Francisco! Where are you?
Lizard and Luc, Psylvia, wait for me!

最西边的岛上
moreAccurate: time creates distance, even Maowi treated me
最西边的岛上
like a stranger when I visited him today ;-((
天边一片白云
thanks.