--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was like that all the time, in those…" description: "\"It was like that all the time, in those years: an endless trip, a gaudy voyage. But powers decay. Time leaches the colors from the best of visions. The..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/robert-silverberg-14952_beats_it-was-like-that-all-the-time-in-those-y_2069927.jpg" --- # It was like that all the time, in those years: an endless… ![“It was like that all the time, in those years: an endless trip, a gaudy voyage. But powers decay. Time leaches the colors from the best of visions. The world becomes grayer. Entropy beats us down. Everything fades. Everything goes. Everything dies.” quote by Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/robert-silverberg-14952_beats_it-was-like-that-all-the-time-in-those-y_2069927.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/robert-silverberg-14952_beats_it-was-like-that-all-the-time-in-those-y_2069927.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/903/robert-silverberg-14952_beats_it-was-like-that-all-the-time-in-those-y_2069927.jpg) > “It was like that all the time, in those years: an endless trip, a gaudy voyage. But powers decay. Time leaches the colors from the best of visions. The world becomes grayer. Entropy beats us down. Everything fades. Everything goes. Everything dies.” [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time erodes vividness; entropy dulls even the brightest visions, leading to inevitable decay and death. **In simple terms:** Time fades all things. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence, cherish present beauty. Themes impermanence entropy decay beauty Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - reflecting on aging - appreciating art - coping with loss - mindfulness practice Key Concepts philosophy existentialism cosmology Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning as things fade? - Can acceptance of entropy inspire creative urgency? A Different Perspective It ignores moments of renewal and resilience that can emerge despite decay. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Voyages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyages/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I was so scared it was all going to be gone by the time I got there. 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Thus we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/what-i-have-said-about-the-newspapers-and-the-movies-applies-equally/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [“Entropy The Disintegrating Integration of Cheez-Whiz Squirts Insipid Inspiration Quoth the Oblong Eclipse of Nether-Knowledge Never Knowing Decaying Matter in a Decaying Orbit Orangutans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ubiquitous-bubba/entropy-the-disintegrating-integration-of-cheez-whiz-squirts-insipid/) Ubiquitous Bubba > [We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-could-not-for-example-arrive-at-a-principle-like-that-of-entropy/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [Systems program building is an entropy-decreasing process, hence inherently metastable. Program maintenance is an entropy-increasing process, and even its most skillful execution only delays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/systems-program-building-is-an-entropy-decreasing-process-hence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Forgotten thought is the ultimate entropy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-lintern/forgotten-thought-is-the-ultimate-entropy/) Neil Lintern ## More by Robert Silverberg > [One defining symptom of decadence is a fondness for vast and nonsensical extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/one-defining-symptom-of-decadence-is-a-fondness-for-vast-and/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [It has been suggested that Tiptree is female, a theory that I find absurd, for there is to me something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/it-has-been-suggested-that-tiptree-is-female-a-theory-that-i-find/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Never pass by a chance to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/never-pass-by-a-chance-to-shut-up/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I'm not ready to fuck an empress just yet”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-m-not-ready-to-fuck-an-empress-just-yet/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Three Rules for Literary Success: 1. Read a lot. 2. Write a lot. 3. Read a lot more, write a lot more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/three-rules-for-literary-success-1-read-a-lot-2-write-a-lot-3-read-a/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Utopias are boring. Distopias on the other hand, are interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/utopias-are-boring-distopias-on-the-other-hand-are-interesting/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“History could be as arbitrary as poetry, he told himself: what is history, other than a matter of choice, the picking and choosing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/history-could-be-as-arbitrary-as-poetry-he-told-himself-what-is/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“It’s because I hate to think that anything goes to waste. I mean, that anything that was ever important or valuable or precious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/it-s-because-i-hate-to-think-that-anything-goes-to-waste-i-mean-that/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“Death was the only question that contained its own answer, and when you asked the question and had the answer you were gone, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/death-was-the-only-question-that-contained-its-own-answer-and-when/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Men of great spirit are at high risk at a time when small souls rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/men-of-great-spirit-are-at-high-risk-at-a-time-when-small-souls-rule/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I'm an urban New Yorker to the last molecule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-m-an-urban-new-yorker-to-the-last-molecule/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“He met me at the airport; it was ten in the morning, Washington time, when I arrived, after having taken a plane that left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/he-met-me-at-the-airport-it-was-ten-in-the-morning-washington-time/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“He felt disgruntled and obscurely let down at having paid good money to discover that the vision that had so irradiated his consciousness was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/he-felt-disgruntled-and-obscurely-let-down-at-having-paid-good-money/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I tried to be good to Judith, I tried to be kind and loving, but our hatred kept coming between us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-tried-to-be-good-to-judith-i-tried-to-be-kind-and-loving-but-our/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“As youngest boy in service, the worst jobs fell to him, and this would”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/as-youngest-boy-in-service-the-worst-jobs-fell-to-him-and-this-would/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) [Explore all 44 Robert Silverberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) ## More Beats quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. 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Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [If you don't like club beats take a HIT OF E and you will love the music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/if-you-don-t-like-club-beats-take-a-hit-of-e-and-you-will-love-the/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [Every pitcher can beat you, it doesn't matter how good you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/every-pitcher-can-beat-you-it-doesn-t-matter-how-good-you-are/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [Practice to beat the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-bennett/practice-to-beat-the-best/) [Dick Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-bennett/) > [I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. 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