--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There comes a time, we know not when…" description: "\"“There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the destiny of men.”\" — Joseph Addison Alexander" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg" --- # There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the… ![“There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the destiny of men.” quote by Joseph Addison Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg) > ““There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the destiny of men.”” [Joseph Addison Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time reveals destiny, and moments of unknown timing shape human fate. **In simple terms:** Time uncovers destiny. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty in life's timing. Themes destiny time fate uncertainty philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - personal milestones - historical events Key Concepts temporal destiny human agency life purpose Questions to Reflect On - What moments changed your path? - How do you act amid uncertainty? A Different Perspective May imply fatalism over agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comes Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-time/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Destiny Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny-men-3611668/) [Marks Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marks-destiny-3611667/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-know/) ## Related quotes > [“Tis all a Checkerboard of Nights and Days Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and stays, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-fitzgerald/tis-all-a-checkerboard-of-nights-and-days-where-destiny-with-men-for/) [Edward FitzGerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-fitzgerald/) > [“Tis all a chequer board of nights and days, where destiny with men for pieces plays; hither and thither, and mates and slays.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-fitzgerald/tis-all-a-chequer-board-of-nights-and-days-where-destiny-with-men-for/) [Edward Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-fitzgerald/) > [Destiny is something men select; women achieve it only by default or stupendous suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-rosenstein/destiny-is-something-men-select-women-achieve-it-only-by-default-or/) [Harriet Rosenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-rosenstein/) > [“Activity becomes process. Choices become destiny. Men then live in the world they themselves have made as if they were fated to do so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-berger/activity-becomes-process-choices-become-destiny-men-then-live-in-the/) [Peter L. Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-berger/) > [All of us depend on fate. But I have to openly say that there comes a time when I've had enough of fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-heinz-rummenigge/all-of-us-depend-on-fate-but-i-have-to-openly-say-that-there-comes-a/) [Karl-Heinz Rummenigge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-heinz-rummenigge/) > [You cannot just be on the go all the time. That was me. I know I have to just let it go sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-lewis/you-cannot-just-be-on-the-go-all-the-time-that-was-me-i-know-i-have/) [Denise Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-lewis/) > [Hold to the time that you know. You don't have to move on to let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deadmau5/hold-to-the-time-that-you-know-you-don-t-have-to-move-on-to-let-go/) [Deadmau5](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deadmau5/) > [“Just one time…When you know who I am. Let me be your man." ~ JZB”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/just-one-time-when-you-know-who-i-am-let-me-be-your-man-jzb/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Took me a long time to know I was a nobody from nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-linklater/took-me-a-long-time-to-know-i-was-a-nobody-from-nowhere/) [Richard Linklater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-linklater/) > [Did you know you do that for me and I wonder sometimes, why you been taking your time I, know this gone be right.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-holiday/did-you-know-you-do-that-for-me-and-i-wonder-sometimes-why-you-been/) [J Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-holiday/) > [It takes me a while to make friends as I take time to get to know people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-penty/it-takes-me-a-while-to-make-friends-as-i-take-time-to-get-to-know/) [Diana Penty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-penty/) > [Always appreciate the time you get, because you never know how much longer it'll last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/always-appreciate-the-time-you-get-because-you-never-know-how-much/) [Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/) > [ “\[...\] the point being that we know what IT is and we know TIME and we know that everything is really FINE...” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-point-being-that-we-know-what-it-is-and-we-know-time-and-we-know/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [There needs a long time to know the worlds pulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/there-needs-a-long-time-to-know-the-worlds-pulse/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [“The only thing we have in this life is time...And we never know how much of that we have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-fisher-staples/the-only-thing-we-have-in-this-life-is-time-and-we-never-know-how/) [Suzanne Fisher Staples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-fisher-staples/) ## 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": "“There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the destiny of men.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Addison Alexander" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison-alexander/there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that-marks-the-destiny-of-men/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destiny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison-alexander/there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that-marks-the-destiny-of-men/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/joseph-addison-alexander-25033_destiny_there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that_2824164.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There comes a time, we know not when, that marks the destiny of men.” — Joseph Addison Alexander", "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": "Joseph Addison Alexander", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison-alexander/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There comes a time, we know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison-alexander/there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that-marks-the-destiny-of-men/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison-alexander/there-comes-a-time-we-know-not-when-that-marks-the-destiny-of-men/#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 } } ] } ```