--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He comes to us as One unknown, without a…" description: "\"He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: \"Foll..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/albert-schweitzer-701_being-wise_he-comes-to-us-as-one-unknown-without-a_1733082.jpg" --- # He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old… ![“He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple…” quote by Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/albert-schweitzer-701_being-wise_he-comes-to-us-as-one-unknown-without-a_1733082.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/albert-schweitzer-701_being-wise_he-comes-to-us-as-one-unknown-without-a_1733082.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/albert-schweitzer-701_being-wise_he-comes-to-us-as-one-unknown-without-a_1733082.jpg) > “He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.” [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage urges listeners to follow a mysterious guide, promising revelation through hardship and fellowship. **In simple terms:** Follow the guide, learn through trials. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges to discover deeper truth. Themes faith guidance revelation hardship community Mood contemplative hopeful serene Type inspirational philosophical religious When to use this quote - pilgrimage - personal growth - group rituals - overcoming adversity Key Concepts spiritual journey mystery obedience Questions to Reflect On - What hardships have shaped your understanding of purpose? - How does obedience affect your spiritual growth? A Different Perspective The guide’s identity remains vague, making personal interpretation uncertain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) [Comes Unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-unknown-1448695/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Fellowship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellowship/) [Follow Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/follow-thou-1448694/) [Ineffable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ineffable/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Obey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obey/) [Obey Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obey-wise-1448696/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) [Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Toil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toil/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Fear comes from the unknown. Once you know, then, whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-huyghe/fear-comes-from-the-unknown-once-you-know-then-whatever/) [Pierre Huyghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-huyghe/) > [“As he stood there, the audience was forgotten. The past, with all its mistakes and suffering, its doubt and sin, came before him for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bell-wright/as-he-stood-there-the-audience-was-forgotten-the-past-with-all-its/) [Harold Bell Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bell-wright/) > [Follow thou thy choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/follow-thou-thy-choice/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [If we're going to live an ethical life, it's not enough just to follow the thou-shalt-nots. … If we have enough, we have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-re-going-to-live-an-ethical-life-it-s-not-enough-just-to-follow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We all have received the divine injunction: ‘Follow thou me.’ It guided Peter. It motivated Paul. It can determine our personal destiny. Can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-s-monson/we-all-have-received-the-divine-injunction-follow-thou-me-it-guided/) [Thomas S. Monson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-s-monson/) > [And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/and-if-any-mischief-follow-then-thou-shalt-give-life-for-life-eye-for/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [With thee goes Thy husband, him to follow thou art bound; Where he abides, think there thy native soil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/with-thee-goes-thy-husband-him-to-follow-thou-art-bound-where-he/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [ God does not play dice \[with the universe\]. \[Ger., Gott wurfelt nicht.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/god-does-not-play-dice-with-the-universe-ger-gott-wurfelt-nicht/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The magic of film isn't just because of the big screen, or the acoustics, but the ineffable shared experience of going to the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-magic-of-film-isn-t-just-because-of-the-big-screen-or-the/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [Early love is exciting and exhilarating. It's light and bubbly. Anyone can love like that. But after three children, after a separation and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/early-love-is-exciting-and-exhilarating-it-s-light-and-bubbly-anyone/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [There are two indices of genuine art: it is inimitable and it is ineffable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-auguste-renoir/there-are-two-indices-of-genuine-art-it-is-inimitable-and-it-is/) [Pierre-Auguste Renoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-auguste-renoir/) > [The mystics always say that the experience they're talking about is ineffable, that you can't say it. Rumi was asked one time why he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/the-mystics-always-say-that-the-experience-they-re-talking-about-is/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [Justice requires lawyers who are prepared, witnesses who tell the truth, judges who know the law, and jurors who stay awake. Justice is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-levine/justice-requires-lawyers-who-are-prepared-witnesses-who-tell-the/) [Paul Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-levine/) > [To me, reason is as spiritual as anything else, the beauty of reason seems to me indelible and ineffable and numinous... the spirit is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/to-me-reason-is-as-spiritual-as-anything-else-the-beauty-of-reason/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Go ahead. Weep for the rare, the never seen this way again, the excruciating, ineffable, unmitigated beauty of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-anne-radmacher/go-ahead-weep-for-the-rare-the-never-seen-this-way-again-the/) [Mary Anne Radmacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-anne-radmacher/) ## More by Albert Schweitzer > [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-the-activity-of-man-directed-to-secure-the-inner-perfection/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Because I have confidence in the power of truth, and of the spirit, I have confidence in the future of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/because-i-have-confidence-in-the-power-of-truth-and-of-the-spirit-i/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Man's ethics must not end with man, but should extend to the universe. He must regain the consciousness of the great Chain of Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/man-s-ethics-must-not-end-with-man-but-should-extend-to-the-universe/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Sincerity is the foundation of the spiritual life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/sincerity-is-the-foundation-of-the-spiritual-life/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/i-am-life-that-wants-to-live-in-the-midst-of-life-that-wants-to-live/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“ Bauer 's 'Criticism of the Gospel History' is worth a good dozen Lives of Jesus, because his work, as we are only now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/bauer-s-criticism-of-the-gospel-history-is-worth-a-good-dozen-lives/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility to everything that has life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-in-its-unqualified-form-extended-responsibility-to/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The only way out of today's misery is for people to become worthy of each other's trust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-only-way-out-of-today-s-misery-is-for-people-to-become-worthy-of/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [When we observe contemporary society one thing strikes us. We debate but make no progress. Why? Because as peoples we do not yet trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/when-we-observe-contemporary-society-one-thing-strikes-us-we-debate/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [For those who sincerely seek the truth should not fear the outcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/for-those-who-sincerely-seek-the-truth-should-not-fear-the-outcome/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The ethic of Reverence for Life is the ethic of Love widened into universality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-ethic-of-reverence-for-life-is-the-ethic-of-love-widened-into/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [I still remain convinced that truth, love, peaceableness, meekness, and kindness are the violence which can master all other violence. The world will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/i-still-remain-convinced-that-truth-love-peaceableness-meekness-and/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Whatever you have received more than others-in health, in talents, in ability, in success, in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home life-all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/whatever-you-have-received-more-than-others-in-health-in-talents-in/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Every start on an untrodden path is a venture which only in unusual circumstances looks sensible and likely to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-start-on-an-untrodden-path-is-a-venture-which-only-in-unusual/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) [Explore all 400 Albert Schweitzer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) ## More Being wise quotes > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be smart, spend carefully. To be wise, save regularly. To be genius, give extravagantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-ingram/to-be-smart-spend-carefully-to-be-wise-save-regularly-to-be-genius/) [Chip Ingram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-ingram/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/acknowledging-foolishness-is-a-very-powerful-and-important-experience/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/deign-on-the-passing-world-to-turn-thine-eyes-and-pause-awhile-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I feel I want to be wise with white hair in a tall library in a deep chair by a fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/i-feel-i-want-to-be-wise-with-white-hair-in-a-tall-library-in-a-deep/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberley-strassel/were-anyone-wondering-how-sen-harry-reid-intended-to-manage-life-in/) [Kimberley Strassel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberley-strassel/) > [If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/if-we-are-going-to-be-wise-spiritual-people-prepared-to-meet-the/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [Literature provides us with experiences it would not be wise or possible to introduce into our own world and thus enlarges our understanding of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rosenblatt/literature-provides-us-with-experiences-it-would-not-be-wise-or/) [Louise Rosenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rosenblatt/) > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The goal of a passionate artist is to try and make a masterpiece each and every time, yet be wise enough to know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-giancola/the-goal-of-a-passionate-artist-is-to-try-and-make-a-masterpiece-each/) [Donato Giancola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donato-giancola/) > [License they mean when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/license-they-mean-when-they-cry-liberty-for-who-loves-that-must-first/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [It almost seems as though this roiling world is conspiring to test our patience at every turn. In fact, it is. With this in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-almost-seems-as-though-this-roiling-world-is-conspiring-to-test/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's always better to be wise than to be smart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/it-s-always-better-to-be-wise-than-to-be-smart/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) [Browse all 310 Being wise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: \"Follow thou me!\" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. 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