--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But no earthly foot can step between a…" description: "\"But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny.\" — Owen Wister" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg" --- # But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny. ![“But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny.” quote by Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg) > “But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny.” [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One cannot avoid the path that fate has set for them. **In simple terms:** Destiny is inevitable. Key Takeaway Accept and prepare for your destiny. Themes fate determination inevitability Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career decisions - life challenges - relationship choices Key Concepts philosophical literary Questions to Reflect On - Do you believe destiny controls your life? - Can you change your fate? A Different Perspective Destiny may be interpreted as fatalistic, limiting agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Earthly Foot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthly-foot-1958809/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Foot Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foot-step-809229/) [Man Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-destiny/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Step Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-man-1958808/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) ## Related quotes > [Being 18 is like a big ass step to becoming a man or a woman. There's so much that comes with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-18-is-like-a-big-ass-step-to-becoming-a-man-or-a-woman-there-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our foot step may slip without the order of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/our-foot-step-may-slip-without-the-order-of-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“ The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/the-most-important-step-a-man-can-take-it-s-not-the-first-one-is-it/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [A careful foot can step anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinese-proverb/a-careful-foot-can-step-anywhere/) [Chinese Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinese-proverb/) > [“Every man has but one destiny”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-puzo/every-man-has-but-one-destiny/) [Mario Puzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-puzo/) > [I feel that I am a man of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/i-feel-that-i-am-a-man-of-destiny/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Patience is the courage of the conqueror, the strength of man against destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/patience-is-the-courage-of-the-conqueror-the-strength-of-man-against/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is man's destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a byproduct of his wonderment, to create a new life on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/it-is-man-s-destiny-to-ponder-on-the-riddle-of-existence-and-as-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [The saints thus receive qualities that are forbidden to man, and these qualities are owed precisely to the fact that man is capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/the-saints-thus-receive-qualities-that-are-forbidden-to-man-and-these/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [“A man’s destiny is not in the eyes of others. It’s in his own. And that, my young friend, is as good as any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-evison/a-man-s-destiny-is-not-in-the-eyes-of-others-it-s-in-his-own-and-that/) [Jonathan Evison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-evison/) > [What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-do-i-know-of-man-s-destiny-i-could-tell-you-more-about-radishes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Each man's destiny is hung like a medallion around his neck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-le-gai-eaton/each-man-s-destiny-is-hung-like-a-medallion-around-his-neck/) [Charles le Gai Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-le-gai-eaton/) > [Man's destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/man-s-destiny-is-nowhere-spelled-out-nor-is-his-duty/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [Man's destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he's done.. almost. He hasn't quite made it, and it looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/man-s-destiny-was-to-conquer-and-rule-the-world-and-this-is-what-he-s/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [My surname certainly suggests a man whose destiny has always been injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/my-surname-certainly-suggests-a-man-whose-destiny-has-always-been/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) ## More by Owen Wister > [“It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal inequality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/it-was-through-the-declaration-of-independence-that-we-americans/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [I reckon some parsons have a right to tell yu' to be good. The bishop of this hyeh Territory has a right. But I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/i-reckon-some-parsons-have-a-right-to-tell-yu-to-be-good-the-bishop/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“All America is divided into two classes - the quality and the equality. The latter will always recognize the former when mistaken for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/all-america-is-divided-into-two-classes-the-quality-and-the-equality/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“Here in flesh and blood was a truth which I had long believed in words, but never met before. The creature we call a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/here-in-flesh-and-blood-was-a-truth-which-i-had-long-believed-in/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [I thought there should in truth be heavy damages for malpractice on human souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/i-thought-there-should-in-truth-be-heavy-damages-for-malpractice-on/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“The cowboy has now gone to worlds invisible; the wind has blown away the white ashes of his campfires; but the empty sardine box…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/the-cowboy-has-now-gone-to-worlds-invisible-the-wind-has-blown-away/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [With a gun against my belly I... I always smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/with-a-gun-against-my-belly-i-i-always-smile/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/forgive-my-asking-you-to-use-your-mind-it-is-a-thing-which-no/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“Providence makes use of instruments I'd not touch with a ten-foot pole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/providence-makes-use-of-instruments-i-d-not-touch-with-a-ten-foot-pole/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [An aristocrat in morals as in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/an-aristocrat-in-morals-as-in-mind/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“He possessed that quality in his profanity of not offending by it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/he-possessed-that-quality-in-his-profanity-of-not-offending-by-it/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“When a man ain't got no ideas of his own," said Scipio, "he'd ought to be kind o' careful who he borrows 'em from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/when-a-man-ain-t-got-no-ideas-of-his-own-said-scipio-he-d-ought-to-be/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [“It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal quality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/it-was-through-the-declaration-of-independence-that-we-americans-2/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [When a man ain't got no ideas of his own, he'd ought to be kind o' careful who he borrows 'em from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/when-a-man-ain-t-got-no-ideas-of-his-own-he-d-ought-to-be-kind-o/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [Said Aristotle unto Plato, 'Have another sweet potato?' Said Plato unto Aristotle, 'Thank you, I prefer the bottle.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/said-aristotle-unto-plato-have-another-sweet-potato-said-plato-unto/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) [Explore all 29 Owen Wister quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) ## 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": "But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Owen Wister" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-man-and-his-destiny/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destiny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-man-and-his-destiny/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16c/owen-wister-21300_destiny_but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-m_982377.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But no earthly foot can step between a man and his destiny.” — Owen Wister", "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": "Owen Wister", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But no earthly foot can step...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-man-and-his-destiny/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/but-no-earthly-foot-can-step-between-a-man-and-his-destiny/#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 } } ] } ```