Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.

The philosopher of wit and paradox, Steven Wright, once observed: “Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.” Though the words are draped in humor, as much of Wright’s wisdom often is, they conceal within them a profound meditation on patience, perseverance, and the nature of time itself. Beneath the laughter lies a truth as old as humanity: that all things are possible, if only one has the endurance to keep walking.

At first glance, the quote seems like a simple absurdity, a play on logic. But to those who listen closely, it speaks of the hidden power of steadfastness — the kind that has built civilizations, crossed oceans, and moved mountains. To say that “everywhere is within walking distance” is to affirm that no destination, no dream, is truly unreachable; it is only time that separates us from it. The world, in its vastness, does not deny us its treasures — it only demands that we move toward them, step by step, without surrender.

The ancients knew this truth well. The Chinese sage Lao Tzu once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Both his wisdom and Wright’s humor spring from the same root — the understanding that progress is not about speed, but about persistence. The impatient mind wishes to arrive at once, but the wise soul knows that movement, however slow, carries its own kind of victory. To walk toward something, day after day, is to affirm faith in both the path and oneself.

Consider the story of Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer whose expedition to Antarctica in 1914 met disaster when his ship, the Endurance, was trapped and crushed by ice. For two years, Shackleton and his men survived the frozen wilderness, moving across the ice, then the ocean, and finally the mountains — all on foot or by small boat. They could have perished a hundred times, but they kept moving. It was their steady, tireless walk through unimaginable hardship that brought every one of them home alive. Shackleton’s journey stands as living proof of Wright’s paradox: that with time — and courage — even the ends of the earth are within reach.

Steven Wright’s humor disguises a larger spiritual lesson. To say “if you have the time” is to remind us that time is the true measure of all endeavors. It is not that our dreams are too distant, but that our patience is too short. Modern life, with its hunger for immediacy, blinds us to this truth. We rush, we demand, we despair when progress is slow. But Wright’s quiet jest tells us to return to the rhythm of nature — to the slow and steady unfolding of the seasons, to the silent growth of a tree, to the gentle persistence of water shaping stone. Time is not our enemy; it is our most faithful ally, if we learn to walk with it rather than against it.

And yet, there is also humility in his words. For not all things can be rushed, and not all distances can be conquered through will alone. There are places, both in the world and within the soul, that can only be reached by patience, forgiveness, and faith. When Wright says that “everywhere is within walking distance,” he is not merely speaking of geography, but of the inner landscapes we must cross — the deserts of fear, the mountains of doubt, the rivers of loss. To walk through these is the true pilgrimage, and those who keep moving, even slowly, will one day stand in the light they sought.

So, my listener, take this wisdom into your days: when the road seems endless, walk it anyway. When the dream feels too distant, begin with a single step. Do not curse the time it takes — for time is the canvas upon which all journeys are painted. The destination may be far, but every moment spent walking brings it nearer. As Steven Wright reminds us, the world is open to those who have the patience to traverse it. And when you look back, after many miles, you will see that the miracle was never in the arrival, but in the walking itself — the quiet, unbroken faith that turned every step into a triumph.