“Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.”

— Paul Simon

Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean
Song lyrics, Surprise (2006)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Once upon a time there was an ocean. But now it's a mountain range. Something unstoppable put into motion. Nothing i…" by Paul Simon?

Paul Simon 116

American musician, songwriter and producer 1941

Related quotes

“The light through the stained glass was cobalt and red.
And the frayed cuffs and collars were mended by halos of golden thread.
The choir sang, "Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean."
And all the old hymns and family names came fluttering down as leaves of emotion.
As nothing is different, but everything's changed.”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean
Song lyrics, Surprise (2006)

“Everything is different from now on. Something, something very fundamental has changed, here.”

William Gibson (1948) American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist and founder of the cyberpunk subgenre

No Maps for These Territories (2000)
Context: I think the last time... the last time I had one of those "CNN moments," where I was slammed right up against the windshield of — of the present — would have been flipping on the television one day, and seeing that Federal Building in Oklahoma City lying there in its own … crater, and listening to a little bit of the audio, and … and getting the idea that something, something bad had happened in Middle America. And I had … some … very, very deep within me, something seemed to say, "Everything is different from now on. Something, something very fundamental has changed, here." … Whenever something like this happens, and I have one of these moments, it ups the ante on being a science-fiction writer. It changes … it changes the nature of the game.

“The change from atoms to bits is irrevocable and unstoppable. Why now? Because the change is also exponential — small differences of yesterday can have suddenly shocking consequences tomorrow.”

Nicholas Negroponte book Being Digital

Being Digital (1995)

“Everything, everything seemed once-upon-a-time.”

Haruki Murakami book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Source: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

“Nothing’s different, but everything has changed.”

Charles de Lint (1951) author

“The Forever Trees”, p. 331
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)

“During my childhood, the inscription «tourist» accompanied the picture, where a person in sneakers with a backpack climbs the mountains. Now under a similar comment — a beachgoers: sunglasses, a sun lounger under a palm tree near the azure waters of the ocean. Everything flows, everything changes.”

Viktor Pinchuk (1969)

Quotes from books, Third african traveling (Russian: Третья афровылазка)

“The universal intelligence puts itself in motion for every separate effect… or it puts itself in motion once, and everything else comes by way of a sequence in a manner; or individual elements are the origin of all things. In a word, if there is a god, all is well; and if chance rules, do not thou be governed by it.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

IX, 28
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX

“Once there was a need for people like me to fight, to put things in order. Now we have order and prosperity ... and the time has come for changes.”

Ramzan Kadyrov (1976) President of Chechnya, former militia leader

Source: "Chechen leader, amid reshuffles, says ready to die for Putin" in Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-chechnya/chechen-leader-amid-reshuffles-says-ready-to-die-for-putin-idUSKBN1DR03I (26 November 2017)

“Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart.”

Jim Steinman (1947) American musician

Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983)
Context: Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart.

“People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

Aurelius Augustinus book Confessions

Variant: Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.
Source: Confessions (c. 397), X

“Once upon a time there was an ocean.But now it's a mountain range.Something unstoppable put into motion.Nothing is different, but everything's changed.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Paul Simon 116

Related quotes

Related topics

“Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.”