--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pilgrims are persons in motion passing…" description: "\"Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/h-richard-niebuhr-37547_clarity_pilgrims-are-persons-in-motion-passing-t_2924586.jpg" --- # Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories… ![“Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit's compass points the way.” quote by H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/h-richard-niebuhr-37547_clarity_pilgrims-are-persons-in-motion-passing-t_2924586.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/h-richard-niebuhr-37547_clarity_pilgrims-are-persons-in-motion-passing-t_2924586.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/728/h-richard-niebuhr-37547_clarity_pilgrims-are-persons-in-motion-passing-t_2924586.jpg) > “Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit's compass points the way.” [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes pilgrims as seekers moving through foreign lands toward spiritual completion guided by inner compass. **In simple terms:** Pilgrims seek completion guided by spirit. Key Takeaway Follow your inner compass toward purpose. Themes spiritual journey search identity guidance Mood reflective hopeful Type theological inspirational When to use this quote - travel - career change - personal growth Key Concepts Pilgrimage metaphor inner calling Questions to Reflect On - What is your spiritual compass? - How do you recognize completion? A Different Perspective May feel directionless without clear goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Compass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compass/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Passing through](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing-through/) [Pilgrim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pilgrim/) [Pilgrims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pilgrims/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Territory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/territory/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/pilgrims-are-poets-who-create-by-taking-journeys/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [It is imperative that the past of the pilgrims' progress be intentionally carried forward into the present as we work into our future. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/it-is-imperative-that-the-past-of-the-pilgrims-progress-be/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Few spirits are made better by the pain and languor of sickness; as few great pilgrims become eminent saints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/few-spirits-are-made-better-by-the-pain-and-languor-of-sickness-as/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [Do you remember the church across the sands? You stood outside and planned to travel the lands, where the pilgrims go. So you packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/do-you-remember-the-church-across-the-sands-you-stood-outside-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-remember-one-night-at-muzdalifa-with-nothing-but-the-sky-overhead-i/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Christians are simply pilgrims who acknowledge their lostness and their desire for help in finding the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/christians-are-simply-pilgrims-who-acknowledge-their-lostness-and/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [And then Serafina understood something for which the witches had no word: it was the idea of pilgrimage. She understood why these beings would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/and-then-serafina-understood-something-for-which-the-witches-had-no/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Like so many pilgrims before us, we kneel in wonder and adoration before the ineffable mystery which. was accomplished here... In This Child -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/like-so-many-pilgrims-before-us-we-kneel-in-wonder-and-adoration/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Courage you have, and the knowledge that we are all pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-you-have-and-the-knowledge-that-we-are-all-pilgrims-together/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In dreams we stand in this great democracy of the possible and there we are right pilgrims indeed. There we go forth to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/in-dreams-we-stand-in-this-great-democracy-of-the-possible-and-there/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Next to of course god America i / love you land of the pilgrims and so forth oh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/next-to-of-course-god-america-i-love-you-land-of-the-pilgrims-and-so/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Politics is like navigation in a sea without charts, and wise men live the lives of pilgrims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/politics-is-like-navigation-in-a-sea-without-charts-and-wise-men-live/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [“Far out on the desert to the north dustspouts rose wobbling and augered the earth and some said they'd heard of pilgrims borne aloft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/far-out-on-the-desert-to-the-north-dustspouts-rose-wobbling-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Pilgrims travel to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land, and the foundations of their faith. People go to Washington, D.C. to see the workings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/pilgrims-travel-to-jerusalem-to-see-the-holy-land-and-the-foundations/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [We are all pilgrims on an elusive and endless road... Despite our attempts to build lives on stone foundations, our spirits continuously flow. Endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lawlor/we-are-all-pilgrims-on-an-elusive-and-endless-road-despite-our/) [Anthony Lawlor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lawlor/) ## More by H. Richard Niebuhr > [The great Christian revolutions came not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when someone takes radically something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/the-great-christian-revolutions-came-not-by-the-discovery-of/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [It is imperative that the past of the pilgrims' progress be intentionally carried forward into the present as we work into our future. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/it-is-imperative-that-the-past-of-the-pilgrims-progress-be/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Religion makes good people better and bad people worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/religion-makes-good-people-better-and-bad-people-worse/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [The way to the organic, active peace of brotherhood leads through the hearts of peacemakers who will knit together, with patience and self-sacrifice, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/the-way-to-the-organic-active-peace-of-brotherhood-leads-through-the/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/a-god-without-wrath-brought-men-without-sin-into-a-kingdom-without/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Apart from the resurrection of Jesus, the eschatological orientation of the church appears as the spoke of a wheel without a hub.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/apart-from-the-resurrection-of-jesus-the-eschatological-orientation/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Men are generally right in what they affirm and wrong in what they deny. What we deny is generally something that lies outside our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/men-are-generally-right-in-what-they-affirm-and-wrong-in-what-they/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [A God without wrath brought human beings without sin into a kingdom without judgment through ministrations of a Christ without a cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/a-god-without-wrath-brought-human-beings-without-sin-into-a-kingdom/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Everyone has some kind of philosophy, some general worldview, which to men of other views will seem mythological.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/everyone-has-some-kind-of-philosophy-some-general-worldview-which-to/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Christendom has often achieved apparent success by ignoring the precepts of its founder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/christendom-has-often-achieved-apparent-success-by-ignoring-the/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/pilgrims-are-poets-who-create-by-taking-journeys/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) [Explore all 12 H. Richard Niebuhr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) ## More Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It comes a moment that someone says something really small, but fits so perfect into your heart that everything start to make sense!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/it-comes-a-moment-that-someone-says-something-really-small-but-fits/) Laylablack > [“Replaying the past in your mind won't change the present; it only steals the clarity needed to shape what comes next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-meyering-sr/replaying-the-past-in-your-mind-won-t-change-the-present-it-only/) Joseph Meyering Sr > [Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 12. I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit's compass points the way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. 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