--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the earth is not my home, I'm just…" description: "\"the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by\" — Tom Waits" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg" --- # the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by ![“the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by” quote by Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg) > “the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by” [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feeling transient and detached from the planet, emphasizing impermanence and wanderlust. **In simple terms:** I’m just a traveler on Earth. Key Takeaway Embrace the fleeting nature of life. Themes transience wanderlust detachment Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - travel - environmental activism - personal reflection - mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism impermanence Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing Earth as temporary affect your actions? - What responsibilities remain despite impermanence? A Different Perspective It may overlook responsibility toward the planet. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-e-brumley/this-world-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-a-passing-through/) Albert E. Brumley > [...maybe some people just aren't meant to be in our lives forever. Maybe some people are just passing through...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-steel/maybe-some-people-just-aren-t-meant-to-be-in-our-lives-forever-maybe-3/) [Danielle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-steel/) > [When times are difficult, I tell myself, 'I'm just passing through.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/when-times-are-difficult-i-tell-myself-i-m-just-passing-through/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [If we can choose where to cry, at home or with a few people who will be fully understanding, perhaps we will feel easier.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-whitmore-hickman/if-we-can-choose-where-to-cry-at-home-or-with-a-few-people-who-will/) [Martha Whitmore Hickman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-whitmore-hickman/) > [Our purpose on this earth is not one single event, an accomplishment we can check off a list. There is no test. No passing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/our-purpose-on-this-earth-is-not-one-single-event-an-accomplishment/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [With the broad and powerful swing of the hand which Zola in The Earth gave to his ploughman, L'Auto, journal of ideas and action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-desgrange/with-the-broad-and-powerful-swing-of-the-hand-which-zola-in-the-earth/) Henri Desgrange > [I'm just passing time before the ball, Playing my guitar, I don't have to be where I don't want to be at all, Maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-james-dio/i-m-just-passing-time-before-the-ball-playing-my-guitar-i-don-t-have/) [Ronnie James Dio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-james-dio/) > [I don't love you, I'm just passing the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-love-you-i-m-just-passing-the-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like the condition of being an outsider, just passing through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-unsworth/i-like-the-condition-of-being-an-outsider-just-passing-through/) [Barry Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-unsworth/) > [The internet is just a passing fad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-internet-is-just-a-passing-fad/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [I am the life just passing through. I'm what remains and so are you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kahn/i-am-the-life-just-passing-through-i-m-what-remains-and-so-are-you/) [Matthew Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kahn/) > [The environment is not just around you, it's passing through you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-environment-is-not-just-around-you-it-s-passing-through-you/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Perhaps he was just passing through town on his way to an emo seminar and decided to stop in and light a candle for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-lennox/perhaps-he-was-just-passing-through-town-on-his-way-to-an-emo-seminar/) [Lucy Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-lennox/) > [I used to pretend that I was just passing through this family on my way to my real one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-used-to-pretend-that-i-was-just-passing-through-this-family-on-my/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## More by Tom Waits > [Most of us have the residue of thousands of songs in our ears, that if you end up songwriting, I think you're mostly smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-us-have-the-residue-of-thousands-of-songs-in-our-ears-that-if/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Don't plant your days they turn into weeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-days-they-turn-into-weeds/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“T’ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/t-ain-t-no-sin-to-take-off-your-skin-and-dance-around-in-your-bones/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“an all time favorite: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/an-all-time-favorite-the-large-print-giveth-the-small-print-taketh/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-ll-tell-you-all-my-secrets-but-i-lie-about-my-past/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/for-a-songwriter-you-don-t-really-go-to-songwriting-school-you-learn/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm trying to learn how to write faster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-trying-to-learn-how-to-write-faster/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-world-is-a-hellish-place-and-bad-writing-is-destroying-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm always looking for sounds that are pleasing at the time. The sound of a helicopter is really annoying until you're drowning, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-always-looking-for-sounds-that-are-pleasing-at-the-time-the-sound/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-was-born-in-the-back-seat-of-a-yellow-cab-in-a-hospital-loading/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [There's not much difference between what I appear to be on stage and what I am. I think people like that, that I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/there-s-not-much-difference-between-what-i-appear-to-be-on-stage-and/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Most of the things you absorb you will ultimately secrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-the-things-you-absorb-you-will-ultimately-secrete/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The devil knows the Bible like the back of his hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-devil-knows-the-bible-like-the-back-of-his-hand/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. It's more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-bark-my-voice-out-through-a-closed-throat-pretty-much-it-s-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Explore all 328 Tom Waits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [What did you do to save the world today?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie/what-did-you-do-to-save-the-world-today/) [Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie/) [Browse all 15,455 Earth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Waits" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passing-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Earth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passing-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/tom-waits-916_earth_the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passin_3019510.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the earth is not my home, I'm just passing by” — Tom Waits", "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": "Tom Waits", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "the earth is not my home,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passing-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-earth-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-passing-by/#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 } } ] } ```