18 Examples That Prove Time Is Merciless

Charles Chaplin said that “time is the best author.” Every second leaves indelible marks on each of us and on the things around us. This relentless craftsman molds us as we accumulate experience and wisdom.

Sometimes, we do not notice it with the naked eye. Only when we look back can we perceive how time has sculpted new forms in us and in our favorite things.

1. “Store clerk’s counter.”

2. “Hundreds of shows a year for almost 15 years.”

3. “The wall after countless swipes with key cards.”

4. “The stirring pattern formed over time in my coffee cup.”

5. “400-year-old wooden staircase in Prague.”

6. “Padlock on a pasture gate.”

7. “When I started my trade 26 years ago, a guy gave me his old Makita. Only had to replace it today because I couldn’t replace the battery.”

8. “Generations of bunnies have worn a perfect groove in my neighbor’s fence.”

9. “The jammed wheels of this mop bucket at my work.”

10. “Purchased my first and only pair in the summer of 2002 to have slip-ons for a football camp when I was in High School. Purchased new ones 20 years later.”

11. “Mallet after one year of ’persuading’ vs. a new one, but the old one still has some life left in it.”

12. “6 years later (same table, same wallet).”

13. “Planting 90,000ish trees takes a few inches of shovel.”

14. “Replaced the only bottle opener I own after something like six years.”

15. “The counter in this old diner”

16. “These knives at my work have been used so much they’re almost gone.”

17. “My old worn tablet pen against a brand new one.”

18. “6 months of washing dishes.”

How do you notice the passage of time in the things you like and in your own body?