Home Quote by Walker Percy
““It's one thing to develop a nostalgia for home while you're boozing with Yankee writers in Martha's Vineyard or being chased by the bulls in Pamplona. It's something else to go home and visit with the folks in Reed's drugstore on the square and actually listen to them. The reason you can't go home again is not because the down-home folks are mad at you--they're not, don't flatter yourself, they couldn't care less--but because once you're in orbit and you return to Reed's drugstore on the square, you can stand no more than fifteen minutes of the conversation before you head for the woods, head for the liquor store, or head back to Martha's Vineyard, where at least you can put a tolerable and saving distance between you and home. Home may be where the heart is but it's no place to spend Wednesday afternoon.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, 1961
The quote reflects how nostalgia and distance can make returning home uncomfortable, as familiarity becomes oppressive after experiences abroad.
In simple terms: Home feels distant after travel and change.
Key Takeaway
Recognize that returning home may require new expectations.
Themes
nostalgia
displacement
identity
comfort
travel
Mood
reflective
melancholic
contemplative
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- family gatherings
- post‑travel readjustment
- seeking comfort
- cultural immersion
Key Concepts
existentialism
psychology
social alienation
Questions to Reflect On
- What aspects of home feel oppressive after travel?
- How can one reconcile nostalgia with present reality?
A Different Perspective
The sentiment may overlook that some find solace in familiar settings despite change.
![“[In art] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that he knows, so that in the action of communication he experiences a recognition, a feeling that he has been there before, a shock of recognition.” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3f1/walker-percy-1958_action_in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the_116938.jpg)
![“I don't like being away from home. That's one reason why I don't work as much as I used to [when I started my career], because so many things are on the road. I just don't want to be away from my husband, my dogs and my home. I don't sing that much any more because that also takes you on the road.” quote by Jane Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/07c/jane-powell-36243_away-from-home_i-don-t-like-being-away-from-home-that-s_278.jpg)
