--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The traveller knows not who may be…" description: "\"The traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cf/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_concealed_the-traveller-knows-not-who-may-be-conce_2116734.jpg" --- # The traveller knows not who may be concealed by the… ![“The traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cf/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_concealed_the-traveller-knows-not-who-may-be-conce_2116734.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cf/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_concealed_the-traveller-knows-not-who-may-be-conce_2116734.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cf/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_concealed_the-traveller-knows-not-who-may-be-conce_2116734.jpg) > “The traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Travelers may unknowingly pass among hidden beings, highlighting life's unseen complexities. **In simple terms:** Travelers often miss hidden people. Key Takeaway Stay aware of unseen others. Themes perception journey unknown Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - exploration - urban life - social interactions Key Concepts mystery empathy humanity Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice those you overlook? - What hidden stories surround you? A Different Perspective Not all hidden beings are benign. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concealed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concealed/) [Footsteps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footsteps/) [Footsteps Passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footsteps-passing-4298815/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lonely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely/) [Lonely Footsteps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely-footsteps-4298814/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Multitudes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multitudes/) [Overhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overhead/) [Passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing/) [Passing through](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing-through/) [Passing Unseen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing-unseen-4179931/) [Passings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passings/) [Thick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thick/) [Traveller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveller/) [Traveller Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveller-knows-3263813/) [Trunks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trunks/) [Unseen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unseen/) [Unseen Multitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unseen-multitude-4298816/) ## Related quotes > [We keep passing unseen through little moments of other people's lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/we-keep-passing-unseen-through-little-moments-of-other-people-s-lives/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [A good traveller is one who knows how to travel with the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-good-traveller-is-one-who-knows-how-to-travel-with-the-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As any traveller knows, heading elsewhere is one thing, getting back quite another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/as-any-traveller-knows-heading-elsewhere-is-one-thing-getting-back/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Let's just say I'm like a ship passing through storms, resting in ports now and then until it's time to continue the journey. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-page/let-s-just-say-i-m-like-a-ship-passing-through-storms-resting-in/) [Jimmy Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-page/) > [All the difference between men and angels is, men are passing through the day of trial that angels have already passed through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/all-the-difference-between-men-and-angels-is-men-are-passing-through/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [I believe in the autobiographical concept only to the degree that I am able to put onto film all that's passing through my head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo-antonioni/i-believe-in-the-autobiographical-concept-only-to-the-degree-that-i/) [Michelangelo Antonioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo-antonioni/) > [I sense a scream passing through nature. I painted ... the clouds as actual blood. The colour shrieked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-munch/i-sense-a-scream-passing-through-nature-i-painted-the-clouds-as/) [Edvard Munch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-munch/) > [Lecturing is that mysterious process by means of which the contents of the note-book of the professor are transferred through the instrument of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-lloyd/lecturing-is-that-mysterious-process-by-means-of-which-the-contents/) [Harry Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-lloyd/) > [“Private life, book life, took place where words met imagination without passing through the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/private-life-book-life-took-place-where-words-met-imagination-without/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-e-brumley/this-world-is-not-my-home-i-m-just-a-passing-through/) [Albert E. Brumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-e-brumley/) > [As Popa penetrates deeper into his life, with book after book, it begins to look like a Universe passing through a Universe. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-hughes/as-popa-penetrates-deeper-into-his-life-with-book-after-book-it/) [Ted Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-hughes/) > [Religion is simply an ideal. It is an ideal force that tends to free the human being from material bonds. I do not believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/religion-is-simply-an-ideal-it-is-an-ideal-force-that-tends-to-free/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [The dyad gets its name from passing through or asunder; for the dyad is the first to have separated itself from the monad, whence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iamblichus/the-dyad-gets-its-name-from-passing-through-or-asunder-for-the-dyad/) [Iamblichus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iamblichus/) > [It's like being possessed: like a psychic or a medium. I felt like a hollow temple filled with many spirits, each one passing through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/it-s-like-being-possessed-like-a-psychic-or-a-medium-i-felt-like-a/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [A good, finished scandal, fully armed and equipped, such as circulates in the world, is rarely the production of a single individual, or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/a-good-finished-scandal-fully-armed-and-equipped-such-as-circulates/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Concealed quotes > [The grain of real knowledge is concealed in a vast deal of esoteric chaff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-rupert-hall/the-grain-of-real-knowledge-is-concealed-in-a-vast-deal-of-esoteric/) [Alfred Rupert Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-rupert-hall/) > [Cold calculation, random spots of color, mathematically exact construction (clearly shown or concealed), drawing that is now silent and now strident . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-puccini/cold-calculation-random-spots-of-color-mathematically-exact/) [Giacomo Puccini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-puccini/) > [A sin concealed is half-pardoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italian-proverb/a-sin-concealed-is-half-pardoned/) [Italian Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italian-proverb/) > [“People who have attended Concealed Carry classes, and those already licensed, typically seem to demonstrate a higher degree of courtesy, responsibility and respect. Interestingly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-behr/people-who-have-attended-concealed-carry-classes-and-those-already/) [Gary Behr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-behr/) > [Whoever says State necessarily says domination, and, consequently, slavery; a State without slavery, open or concealed, is inconceivable: that is why we are enemies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/whoever-says-state-necessarily-says-domination-and-consequently/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Look into any man's heart you please, and you will always find, in every one, at least one black spot which he has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/look-into-any-man-s-heart-you-please-and-you-will-always-find-in/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“E liza adjusted her Ministry-issue bullet-resistant corset, and her hands absently came to rest on where her weapons were concealed. Glancing out the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-ballantine/e-liza-adjusted-her-ministry-issue-bullet-resistant-corset-and-her/) [Philippa Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-ballantine/) > [there are few things that are more endearing than the grace of listening with attention; indeed, it is more than endearing, it is impressive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/there-are-few-things-that-are-more-endearing-than-the-grace-of/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) > [I don't care if they're licensed legal firearms, people who are not highly trained putting guns in their hands is a recipe for disaster.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-mccarthy/i-don-t-care-if-they-re-licensed-legal-firearms-people-who-are-not/) [Garry McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-mccarthy/) > [Fear is concealed in smiles and flashing teeth. 'Please say you still love me,' the kings and queens are really saying. And, when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/fear-is-concealed-in-smiles-and-flashing-teeth-please-say-you-still/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [If the art is concealed, it succeeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/if-the-art-is-concealed-it-succeeds/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/thoughtcrime-was-not-a-thing-that-could-be-concealed-forever-you/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Recently I was reading somewhere or other an Italian curio-dealer who attempted to sell a 17th century crucifix to J.P. Morgan. 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