--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The secret of a great life is often a…" description: "\"“The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in deciphering the mysterious symbols vouchsafed to him, understanding them and so learning to wal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png" --- # The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in… ![“The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in deciphering the mysterious symbols vouchsafed to him, understanding them and so learning to walk in the true path.” quote by Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png) > ““The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in deciphering the mysterious symbols vouchsafed to him, understanding them and so learning to walk in the true path.”” [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True fulfillment comes from interpreting life's deeper signs and aligning actions with a higher purpose. **In simple terms:** Understanding hidden meanings guides a meaningful life. Key Takeaway Seek deeper meaning in daily experiences. Themes purpose spirituality self-discovery wisdom Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career decisions - spiritual practice - creative projects Key Concepts symbolic interpretation personal growth philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What symbols do you find most resonant? - How do you verify personal insights? A Different Perspective Interpretation can be subjective and misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [“Translating from #cat is easy - you just ignore everything, then you decide what you want it to have said, thought, or wanted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/translating-from-cat-is-easy-you-just-ignore-everything-then-you/) Will Advise > [“The ways of men and women are such a puzzle. And I could barely decipher my own feelings, let along anyone else's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-shepherd/the-ways-of-men-and-women-are-such-a-puzzle-and-i-could-barely/) [Megan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-shepherd/) > [The art of discovering the causes of phenomena, or true hypotheses, is like the art of deciphering, in which an ingenious conjecture often greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-art-of-discovering-the-causes-of-phenomena-or-true-hypotheses-is/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The truth beyond the fetish's glimmering mirage is the relationship of laborer to product; it is the social account of how that object came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-hager-cohen/the-truth-beyond-the-fetish-s-glimmering-mirage-is-the-relationship/) [Leah Hager Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-hager-cohen/) > [Understanding a metaphor is like deciphering a code or unraveling a riddle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/understanding-a-metaphor-is-like-deciphering-a-code-or-unraveling-a/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [“Considering the fact that the Harappan script may have been proto-Brahmi, the underlying language to be expected should be Sanskrit, or proto-Sanskrit, or derivatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhajit-ganguly/considering-the-fact-that-the-harappan-script-may-have-been-proto/) [Subhajit Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhajit-ganguly/) > [One woman reads another's character Without the tedious trouble of deciphering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/one-woman-reads-another-s-character-without-the-tedious-trouble-of/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [“Far in the back of her mind she was thinking. But she could not dredge up these half-formed feelings, these obscure bits of ideas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-wells/far-in-the-back-of-her-mind-she-was-thinking-but-she-could-not-dredge/) Helen Wells > [“There is every board minded man behind the success of woman. But when that man is in legal relation then a woman can triumph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agha-kousar/there-is-every-board-minded-man-behind-the-success-of-woman-but-when/) Agha Kousar > [“If you want to be great, you must learn the secret of great men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-want-to-be-great-you-must-learn-the-secret-of-great-men/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Being part of a secret is a great source of strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/being-part-of-a-secret-is-a-great-source-of-strength/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [It didn't matter that the story had begun, because Kathakali discovered long ago that the secret of the Great Stories is that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-god-of-small-things/it-didn-t-matter-that-the-story-had-begun-because-kathakali/) The God Of Small Things > [“The secret of all greatness is in knowing what to do with time. The secret of all the great men and women in history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-secret-of-all-greatness-is-in-knowing-what-to-do-with-time-the/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/the-secret-of-the-great-stories-is-that-they-have-no-secrets-the/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The secret of a great melody is a secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-brubeck/the-secret-of-a-great-melody-is-a-secret/) [Dave Brubeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-brubeck/) ## More by Os Guinness > [Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/too-often-we-forget-that-the-great-men-of-faith-reached-the-heights/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/there-are-lots-of-people-depending-on-the-government-who-are-good/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [American views today are weak, confused, and divided. On one side, many progressive liberals still think that we humans are essentially good and getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/american-views-today-are-weak-confused-and-divided-on-one-side-many/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [What is undeniable is that when comforts and convenience sap our energies and idealism, inactivity secretes sloth in to our minds like a poison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/what-is-undeniable-is-that-when-comforts-and-convenience-sap-our/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“It is realistic rather than cynical to observe that in a fallen world there are degrees of virtue in relation to what is right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/it-is-realistic-rather-than-cynical-to-observe-that-in-a-fallen-world/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [For the grand and inescapable tradition of western literary classics confronts us with fundamental choices over our understanding of words, reading and art, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/for-the-grand-and-inescapable-tradition-of-western-literary-classics/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, "Who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-story-is-told-of-socrates-walking-through-the-market-in-athens/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/by-our-uncritical-pursuit-of-relevance-we-have-actually-courted/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Evangelicalism can only remain evangelical if it is passionately serious about truth and theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/evangelicalism-can-only-remain-evangelical-if-it-is-passionately/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Sometimes when I listen to people who say they have lost their faith, I am far less surprised than they expect. If their view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/sometimes-when-i-listen-to-people-who-say-they-have-lost-their-faith/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Neither secular progress nor secular progressives have brought the West where they once promised. Nor can they.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/neither-secular-progress-nor-secular-progressives-have-brought-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/this-is-also-why-it-is-wrong-to-treat-god-as-a-grand-employment/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [We human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-human-beings-are-never-happier-than-when-we-are-expressing-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Christ is the only way to God, but there are as many ways to Christ as there are people who come to Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/christ-is-the-only-way-to-god-but-there-are-as-many-ways-to-christ-as/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) [Explore all 98 Os Guinness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## More Deciphering quotes > [The art of discovering the causes of phenomena, or true hypotheses, is like the art of deciphering, in which an ingenious conjecture often greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-art-of-discovering-the-causes-of-phenomena-or-true-hypotheses-is/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [“Considering the fact that the Harappan script may have been proto-Brahmi, the underlying language to be expected should be Sanskrit, or proto-Sanskrit, or derivatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhajit-ganguly/considering-the-fact-that-the-harappan-script-may-have-been-proto/) [Subhajit Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhajit-ganguly/) > [“Far in the back of her mind she was thinking. But she could not dredge up these half-formed feelings, these obscure bits of ideas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-wells/far-in-the-back-of-her-mind-she-was-thinking-but-she-could-not-dredge/) Helen Wells > [One woman reads another's character Without the tedious trouble of deciphering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/one-woman-reads-another-s-character-without-the-tedious-trouble-of/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Understanding a metaphor is like deciphering a code or unraveling a riddle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-black/understanding-a-metaphor-is-like-deciphering-a-code-or-unraveling-a/) [Max Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-black/) > [The truth beyond the fetish's glimmering mirage is the relationship of laborer to product; it is the social account of how that object came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-hager-cohen/the-truth-beyond-the-fetish-s-glimmering-mirage-is-the-relationship/) [Leah Hager Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-hager-cohen/) > [“The ways of men and women are such a puzzle. And I could barely decipher my own feelings, let along anyone else's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-shepherd/the-ways-of-men-and-women-are-such-a-puzzle-and-i-could-barely/) [Megan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-shepherd/) > [“Translating from #cat is easy - you just ignore everything, then you decide what you want it to have said, thought, or wanted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/translating-from-cat-is-easy-you-just-ignore-everything-then-you/) Will Advise Browse all 9 Deciphering quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in deciphering the mysterious symbols vouchsafed to him, understanding them and so learning to walk in the true path.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Os Guinness" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-man-s-success-in-deciphering/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deciphering" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-man-s-success-in-deciphering/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/os-guinness-6581_deciphering_the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-ma_2830775.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The secret of a great life is often a man’s success in deciphering the mysterious symbols vouchsafed to him…” — Os Guinness", "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": "Os Guinness", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The secret of a great life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-man-s-success-in-deciphering/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-secret-of-a-great-life-is-often-a-man-s-success-in-deciphering/#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 } } ] } ```