Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless

Hear, O seekers of wisdom, the solemn cry of Thomas Huxley, the defender of science and reason: “Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth.” These words rise with the majesty of a mountain, reminding us that though time devours kingdoms, silences voices, and erodes monuments, it cannot overcome the eternal force of truth. All things visible shall fade, yet what is true remains unshaken, immortal as the stars.

The meaning of this teaching lies in the contrast between frailty and permanence. Time is a destroyer; it gnaws with slow relentlessness, consuming empires, grinding marble into dust, reducing even mighty names to whispers in the wind. Yet in the face of such power, truth stands untouchable. Lies may flourish for a season, deception may parade in triumph, but the centuries themselves bow before truth, for it is woven into the fabric of existence. To stand with truth is to ally oneself with what even time cannot conquer.

Consider the tale of Galileo Galilei, who declared that the earth moves around the sun. In his own age, his words were silenced, his body placed under house arrest, his teaching condemned. The falsehood of his enemies seemed victorious. But time, though it gnawed away his flesh, could not consume his truth. Centuries later, his vision was vindicated, his name honored, his persecutors forgotten. The passing years destroyed the chains upon his reputation, but they could not touch the eternal flame of what was real.

So too, recall the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who cried that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The march of time often delays justice, yet it cannot erase it. Slavery, segregation, and oppression seemed mighty, yet they were but shadows fleeing before the dawn of truth. Huxley’s words remind us that while time erodes lies, it strengthens what is true, for falsehood grows weaker with each passing age, but truth grows ever clearer.

The lesson is powerful: do not build your life upon what time can destroy—wealth, vanity, power, or deceit. These are castles of sand before the tide. Build instead upon truth, for though the centuries rage, it will stand. To befriend truth is to inherit immortality. To flee from it is to join the multitudes whose works lie in ruins, gnawed by the tooth of time.

Practical actions must follow. Speak truth even when it is unpopular, for though men may scorn you in the moment, time will reveal your words. Seek truth in your dealings, in your work, in your learning, for it alone endures. Do not waste your days on empty facades, but pursue what is real. Let your hours be devoted to uncovering, guarding, and proclaiming truth. In this way, your life will become part of what time cannot erase.

Thus, carry Huxley’s wisdom in your soul: “Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth.” Let it remind you of the frailty of lies and the strength of reality. Let it teach you patience, for though truth may suffer delay, it shall not suffer defeat. And let it stir you to courage, that you may live not as one afraid of the gnawing tooth of time, but as one who walks in the invincible light of truth, which stands beyond all decay.