--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think time is a merciless thing. I…" description: "\"I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire that burns you.\" — Tennessee Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png" --- # I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a… ![“I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire that burns you.” quote by Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png) > “I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire that burns you.” [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time relentlessly consumes us, and life feels like a self‑destructive fire that we cannot escape. **In simple terms:** Time burns us all. Key Takeaway Accept life's fleeting nature. Themes mortality time self‑destruction existential drama Mood melancholic reflective Type dramatic philosophical When to use this quote - aging - career burnout - personal crises - creative endeavors Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you use time productively? - What fuels your inner fire? A Different Perspective Time can also inspire growth, not just destruction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Oneself Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself-time-1531947/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Think Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-time-250805/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-burns-2439101/) [Time Merciless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-merciless-3381352/) ## Related quotes > [Economy does not consist in saving the coal, but in using the time while it burns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/economy-does-not-consist-in-saving-the-coal-but-in-using-the-time/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Time burns but leaves no ashes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsa-triolet/time-burns-but-leaves-no-ashes/) [Elsa Triolet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsa-triolet/) > [Sometimes one is guided by what they say of themselves, and very frequently by what other people say of them, without giving oneself time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/sometimes-one-is-guided-by-what-they-say-of-themselves-and-very/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [One cannot be humble and aware of oneself at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/one-cannot-be-humble-and-aware-of-oneself-at-the-same-time/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [As Indian citizens, we subsist on a regular diet of caste massacres and nuclear tests, mosque breakings and fashion shows, church burnings and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-indian-citizens-we-subsist-on-a-regular-diet-of-caste-massacres/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I’m trying to think of the last time I had onions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/i-m-trying-to-think-of-the-last-time-i-had-onions/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [I think its due time you realize that I won't wait for you forever…there will be a day when I get tired of loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tmy/i-think-its-due-time-you-realize-that-i-won-t-wait-for-you-forever/) [TMY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tmy/) > [Time is the most valuable thing on earth: time to think, time to act, time to extend our fraternal relations, time to become better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/time-is-the-most-valuable-thing-on-earth-time-to-think-time-to-act/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [“I think about you every time I play. Every single day, I take you with me wherever I go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-stewart/i-think-about-you-every-time-i-play-every-single-day-i-take-you-with/) [Kate Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-stewart/) > [I think we're in a time when people are much more interested in a show than where you find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marti-noxon/i-think-we-re-in-a-time-when-people-are-much-more-interested-in-a/) [Marti Noxon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marti-noxon/) > [Don't you think now is the time to be adventurous, while we're still young?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-you-think-now-is-the-time-to-be-adventurous-while-we-re-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Do not think that time simply flies away. Do not understand “flying” as the only function of time. If time simply flew away, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/do-not-think-that-time-simply-flies-away-do-not-understand-flying-as/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“The things that the world fills time with are enough to turn the heart to stone, but the goodness of time itself is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/the-things-that-the-world-fills-time-with-are-enough-to-turn-the/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [I'm not going to save the world or anything, but I think it's time I did my bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-casey/i-m-not-going-to-save-the-world-or-anything-but-i-think-it-s-time-i/) [Paul Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-casey/) > [“Time was never neutral and often felt dangerous. We either think we have all the time in the world or time moves too fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-reay/time-was-never-neutral-and-often-felt-dangerous-we-either-think-we/) [Katherine Reay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-reay/) ## More by Tennessee Williams > [“Nothing human disgusts me unless its unkind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/nothing-human-disgusts-me-unless-its-unkind/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [These are the intensities that one cannot live with, that he has to outgrow if he wants to survive. But who can help grieving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/these-are-the-intensities-that-one-cannot-live-with-that-he-has-to/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“Well, you better look out. They got a new bureau in the guvamint files. It’s called U.W. Stands for Useless Wimmen. Tha’s secret plans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/well-you-better-look-out-they-got-a-new-bureau-in-the-guvamint-files/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [People go to the movies instead of moving. Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America, while everybody in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/people-go-to-the-movies-instead-of-moving-hollywood-characters-are/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [They chatter together like birds on Cypress Hill, but all they say is 'Live, live, live, live, live!' It's all they've learned, it's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/they-chatter-together-like-birds-on-cypress-hill-but-all-they-say-is/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/you-take-it-for-granted-that-i-am-in-something-that-i-want-to-get-out/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Guessing isn't knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/guessing-isn-t-knowing/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [I respect a person that has had to fight and howl for his decency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-respect-a-person-that-has-had-to-fight-and-howl-for-his-decency/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-you/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Most of the confidence which I appear to feel, especially when influenced by noon wine, is only a pretense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/most-of-the-confidence-which-i-appear-to-feel-especially-when/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [I cannot write any sort of story unless there is at least one character in it for whom I have physical desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-cannot-write-any-sort-of-story-unless-there-is-at-least-one/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position. I've seen such pitiful cases in the South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-know-so-well-what-becomes-of-unmarried-women-who-aren-t-prepared-to/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“The Jefferson is such a dignified hotel / There is no such thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/the-jefferson-is-such-a-dignified-hotel-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“A drinking man's someone who wants to forget he isn't still young and believing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/a-drinking-man-s-someone-who-wants-to-forget-he-isn-t-still-young-and/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“As for me, no one will ever love me. But you could get used to me, couldn't you, Jimmy?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/as-for-me-no-one-will-ever-love-me-but-you-could-get-used-to-me/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) [Explore all 373 Tennessee Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) ## More Burning quotes > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The entire cosmos is one vast burning bush, permeated by the fire of the divine power and glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/the-entire-cosmos-is-one-vast-burning-bush-permeated-by-the-fire-of/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [Two beautiful women crashing and burning for the sake of the Women's Championship!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-ross/two-beautiful-women-crashing-and-burning-for-the-sake-of-the-women-s/) [Jim Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-ross/) > [He lowered the window, and looked out at the rising sun. There was a ridge of ploughed land, with a plough upon it where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-lowered-the-window-and-looked-out-at-the-rising-sun-there-was-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) [Juan Donoso Cortes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-donoso-cortes/) > [Some fighters know when to stop on their own and go on to something else, and then some fighters have nothing to go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-hagler/some-fighters-know-when-to-stop-on-their-own-and-go-on-to-something/) [Marvin Hagler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-hagler/) > [Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/death-is-staring-too-long-into-the-burning-sun-and-the-relief-of/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [All philanthropy ... is only a savory fumigation burning at the mouth of a sewer. This incense offering makes the air more endurable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/all-philanthropy-is-only-a-savory-fumigation-burning-at-the-mouth-of/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves. We are left with sagging, rippled flesh and burning gums with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael/time-is-a-vindictive-bandit-to-steal-the-beauty-of-our-former-selves/) [Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/nearly-all-runners-do-their-slow-runs-too-fast-and-their-fast-runs/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [Intense, burning desire is the motivational force that enables you to overcome any obstacle and achieve almost any goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/intense-burning-desire-is-the-motivational-force-that-enables-you-to/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Will closed his eyes. He could not hear Jem go, not anymore; he did not want to know the moment when he left and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/will-closed-his-eyes-he-could-not-hear-jem-go-not-anymore-he-did-not/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) [Browse all 1,668 Burning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire that burns you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tennessee Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-think-life-is-a-process-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Burning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-think-life-is-a-process-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/tennessee-williams-745_burning_i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-thin_370412.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think time is a merciless thing. I think life is a process of burning oneself out and time is the fire…” — Tennessee Williams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tennessee Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think time is a merciless...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-think-life-is-a-process-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-think-time-is-a-merciless-thing-i-think-life-is-a-process-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```