--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you know even for a moment That it's…" description: "\"When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then you can walk with the power Of a thousand generations\" — Bruce Cockburn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg" --- # When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then… ![“When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then you can walk with the power Of a thousand generations” quote by Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg) > “When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then you can walk with the power Of a thousand generations” [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When you sense your moment, you draw strength from ancestral lineage. **In simple terms:** Feel your time, walk with ancestral power. Key Takeaway Recognize personal timing and honor heritage for empowerment. Themes timing heritage empowerment Mood inspired reflective Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - spirituality - career - personal growth Key Concepts generational wisdom self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate intuition from pressure? - In what ways does ancestry guide you? A Different Perspective May cause fatalism if over‑emphasized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Know Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-moment-417438/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Power Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-thousand-1691275/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-generations-1691273/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Walk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-walk-1691274/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) ## Related quotes > [How much power is there in a thousand noisy engines? I tell you, there is more power in a single blade of grass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kremer/how-much-power-is-there-in-a-thousand-noisy-engines-i-tell-you-there/) [John Kremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kremer/) > [“One truth holds more power than a thousand lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/one-truth-holds-more-power-than-a-thousand-lies/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [May our children and our children's children to a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/may-our-children-and-our-children-s-children-to-a-thousand/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“When it's your time you will walk right into your blessing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/when-it-s-your-time-you-will-walk-right-into-your-blessing/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [One step at a time, I can walk around the world. Watch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/one-step-at-a-time-i-can-walk-around-the-world-watch-me/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [You don't have to travel hundreds of time and walk a thousand miles to find love. Sometimes, it's just a stone throw away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/you-don-t-have-to-travel-hundreds-of-time-and-walk-a-thousand-miles/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [“The world of our fathers resides within us. Ten thousand generations and more. A form without a history has no power to perpetuate itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-world-of-our-fathers-resides-within-us-ten-thousand-generations/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Events had been set in motion whose echo would be heard a thousand and more generations from now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-valor/events-had-been-set-in-motion-whose-echo-would-be-heard-a-thousand/) [J. Valor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-valor/) > [You know how every now and then, you have a moment where your whole life stretches out ahead of you like a forked road,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/you-know-how-every-now-and-then-you-have-a-moment-where-your-whole/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [When the most important things in our life happen we quite often do not know, at the moment, what is going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/when-the-most-important-things-in-our-life-happen-we-quite-often-do/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Look at the sparrows; they do not know what they will do in the next moment. Let us literally live from moment to moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/look-at-the-sparrows-they-do-not-know-what-they-will-do-in-the-next/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“You who walk the earth know only the moment, which is whisked away with your next exhalation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-who-walk-the-earth-know-only-the-moment-which-is-whisked-away/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The important thing is not to know more than all men, but to know more at each moment than any particular man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-important-thing-is-not-to-know-more-than-all-men-but-to-know-more/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [No matter what you say you might do, you never really know until you're in the moment. Every situation is so different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-brooks/no-matter-what-you-say-you-might-do-you-never-really-know-until-you/) [Garth Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-brooks/) > [You think you know someone until that moment you don't. It's all a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-think-you-know-someone-until-that-moment-you-don-t-it-s-all-a-lie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Bruce Cockburn > [It sounds strange to say it, but you can be in a war zone and have a lot of fun. Even though war is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/it-sounds-strange-to-say-it-but-you-can-be-in-a-war-zone-and-have-a/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [I'd always loved poetry and I'd always loved writing music and composing music, but I hadn't thought of putting the two together until around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/i-d-always-loved-poetry-and-i-d-always-loved-writing-music-and/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [My models for graceful aging are guys like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt, who never stopped working till they dropped, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/my-models-for-graceful-aging-are-guys-like-john-lee-hooker-and/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > ['Gifts' was just a short little one-verse song that I used to close shows in the '60s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/gifts-was-just-a-short-little-one-verse-song-that-i-used-to-close/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [Music itself isn't enough to completely wear down my stash of anger. And I don't have all that much more to be angry about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/music-itself-isn-t-enough-to-completely-wear-down-my-stash-of-anger/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [In between effect and cause and just beyond the range of normal sight, this glittering joker was dancing in the dragon's jaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/in-between-effect-and-cause-and-just-beyond-the-range-of-normal-sight/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [A number of Iraqis told us they had welcomed the U.S. forces as liberators initially but in the intervening months, they had come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/a-number-of-iraqis-told-us-they-had-welcomed-the-u-s-forces-as/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [The people who have impressed me most - and the closest I've come to having heroes - are the people who have devoted their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/the-people-who-have-impressed-me-most-and-the-closest-i-ve-come-to/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [Sometimes I catch myself doing something that I've already done. The more I've done, the more that's likely to happen. Then I just throw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/sometimes-i-catch-myself-doing-something-that-i-ve-already-done-the/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [Anger is energy, and you've got to find a place to put it that works for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/anger-is-energy-and-you-ve-got-to-find-a-place-to-put-it-that-works/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [Wave the flag, wave the Bible, wave your sex or your business degree, whatever you want, just don't wave that thing at me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/wave-the-flag-wave-the-bible-wave-your-sex-or-your-business-degree/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [“Got to kick at the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/got-to-kick-at-the-darkness-till-it-bleeds-daylight/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [All these years of thinking, ending up like this: In front of all this beauty, understanding nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/all-these-years-of-thinking-ending-up-like-this-in-front-of-all-this/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [Everybody wants to see justice done, to somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/everybody-wants-to-see-justice-done-to-somebody-else/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) > [There was a lot more music than the size of the place would indicate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/there-was-a-lot-more-music-than-the-size-of-the-place-would-indicate/) [Bruce Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) [Explore all 73 Bruce Cockburn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/) ## More Generations quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [“The fact that you are born means you have the potential of benefiting yourself and generations”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abegunde-sunday-o/the-fact-that-you-are-born-means-you-have-the-potential-of-benefiting/) [Abegunde Sunday O](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abegunde-sunday-o/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [If every nation gets the government it deserves, every generation writes the history which corresponds with its view of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-janeway/if-every-nation-gets-the-government-it-deserves-every-generation/) [Elizabeth Janeway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-janeway/) > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think leading by example is important, as I know the next generation is watching us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-skolnik/i-think-leading-by-example-is-important-as-i-know-the-next-generation/) [Michael Skolnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-skolnik/) > [“Will this generation be able to turn things around and learn a valuable lesson from all of this? I hope so, but I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-b-powell/will-this-generation-be-able-to-turn-things-around-and-learn-a/) [Aaron B. Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-b-powell/) > [David Cronenberg is the most provocative, original, and consistently excellent North American director of his generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-hoberman/david-cronenberg-is-the-most-provocative-original-and-consistently/) [J. Hoberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-hoberman/) > [The Next Generation Space Telescope, which will be located much further away from the Earth than the Hubble Space Telescope presently is, will also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-nicollier/the-next-generation-space-telescope-which-will-be-located-much/) [Claude Nicollier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-nicollier/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think we've all had enough of Coltrane saxophonists. There's a case of someone ruining a generation of saxophonists, as Louis Armstrong may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bley/i-think-we-ve-all-had-enough-of-coltrane-saxophonists-there-s-a-case/) [Paul Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bley/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Progress is the injustice each generation commits with regard to its predecessors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/progress-is-the-injustice-each-generation-commits-with-regard-to-its/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) [Browse all 5,661 Generations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then you can walk with the power Of a thousand generations", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bruce Cockburn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it-s-your-time-then-you-can-walk/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Generations" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it-s-your-time-then-you-can-walk/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/bruce-cockburn-9323_generations_when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it_152215.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you know even for a moment That it's your time Then you can walk with the power Of a thousand generations” — Bruce Cockburn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bruce Cockburn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cockburn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When you know even for a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it-s-your-time-then-you-can-walk/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cockburn/when-you-know-even-for-a-moment-that-it-s-your-time-then-you-can-walk/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```