--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy…" description: "\"Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below?\" — Charles Lamb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg" --- # Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit… ![“Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below?” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg) > “Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below?” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The riddle asks who can interpret brief encounters and hidden purposes. **In simple terms:** Seek meaning in fleeting moments. Key Takeaway Consider deeper purpose behind brief interactions. Themes destiny interpretation transience Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - daily encounters - travel experiences - meeting strangers Key Concepts literature philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What short visits have changed you? - How do you discern hidden meanings? A Different Perspective Interpretation can be subjective and ambiguous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Riddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riddle/) ## Related quotes > [Let not thy divining heart Forethink me any ill; Destiny may take thy part, And may thy fears fulfill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/let-not-thy-divining-heart-forethink-me-any-ill-destiny-may-take-thy/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Strange is our situation here on earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/strange-is-our-situation-here-on-earth-each-of-us-comes-for-a-short-2/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“My hypersensitive awareness of time's speed led me to push myself to experience life at a maximum pace. If I were going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/my-hypersensitive-awareness-of-time-s-speed-led-me-to-push-myself-to/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Don 't hurry. Don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So don't forget to stop and smell the roses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-hagen/don-t-hurry-don-t-worry-you-re-only-here-for-a-short-visit-so-don-t-2/) [Walter Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-hagen/) > [It was to be a short visit for the G-shevs. More than four days in the U.S. and Raisa's VISA card bill would shatter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-was-to-be-a-short-visit-for-the-g-shevs-more-than-four-days-in-the/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [If I were going to have such a short visit on earth, I had to do everything possible to experience it now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/if-i-were-going-to-have-such-a-short-visit-on-earth-i-had-to-do/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Don't hurry. Don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So don't forget to stop and smell the roses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-hagen/don-t-hurry-don-t-worry-you-re-only-here-for-a-short-visit-so-don-t/) [Walter Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-hagen/) > [Life is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-morris/life-is-like-a-very-short-visit-to-a-toyshop-between-birth-and-death/) [Desmond Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-morris/) > [Life is like a very short visit to a toy shop between birth and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-morris/life-is-like-a-very-short-visit-to-a-toy-shop-between-birth-and-death/) [Desmond Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-morris/) > [You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry, don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-hagen/you-re-only-here-for-a-short-visit-don-t-hurry-don-t-worry-and-be/) [Walter Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-hagen/) > [Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/strange-is-our-situation-here-on-earth-each-of-us-comes-for-a-short/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Phrases like Worship Service or Service of Worship are tautologies. To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/phrases-like-worship-service-or-service-of-worship-are-tautologies-to/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [I was a trader for a company. That's different from the brokers who we sort of disdain as sort of just errand boys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-van-peebles/i-was-a-trader-for-a-company-that-s-different-from-the-brokers-who-we/) [Melvin Van Peebles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-van-peebles/) > [I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker's to get a shoe which was mended. When I was let out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/i-was-put-into-jail-as-i-was-going-to-the-shoemaker-s-to-get-a-shoe/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [We're living in a time when parenting is not at all mirroring the way I was parented. For me, I just followed my parents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-falco/we-re-living-in-a-time-when-parenting-is-not-at-all-mirroring-the-way/) [Edie Falco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-falco/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Destiny quotes > [... War on the destiny of man! Doom on the sun! Before death takes you, O take back this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/war-on-the-destiny-of-man-doom-on-the-sun-before-death-takes-you-o/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [ Man blindly works the will of fate. \[Ger., Blindlings that er blos den Willen des Geschickes.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-martin-wieland/man-blindly-works-the-will-of-fate-ger-blindlings-that-er-blos-den/) [Christoph Martin Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-martin-wieland/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“It's morning now, and I miss the soft rasp of her voice already. Ugh. I'm in trouble, aren't I?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-shand/it-s-morning-now-and-i-miss-the-soft-rasp-of-her-voice-already-ugh-i/) [Pat Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-shand/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [“Failing to meet your true destiny is a tragic act of free will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/failing-to-meet-your-true-destiny-is-a-tragic-act-of-free-will/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Somehow destiny comes into play. These children end up with you and you end up with them. It's something quite magical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/somehow-destiny-comes-into-play-these-children-end-up-with-you-and/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Destiny is the ordained intention God has sacredly prepared with your name on it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-s-lynch/destiny-is-the-ordained-intention-god-has-sacredly-prepared-with-your/) [John S. Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-s-lynch/) > [“There is no interaction without God with interaction with men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/there-is-no-interaction-without-god-with-interaction-with-men/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“Fate and future both are servant to the determined, for they are nothing but creation of human determination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fate-and-future-both-are-servant-to-the-determined-for-they-are/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) [Browse all 7,925 Destiny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Lamb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy-short-visit-meant-or-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destiny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy-short-visit-meant-or-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/charles-lamb-1144_destiny_riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy_601425.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below?” — Charles Lamb", "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": "Charles Lamb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Riddle of destiny, who can show...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy-short-visit-meant-or-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/riddle-of-destiny-who-can-show-what-thy-short-visit-meant-or-know/#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 } } ] } ```