--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The universe is like a safe to which…" description: "\"The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.\" — Peter De Vries" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg" --- # The universe is like a safe to which there is a… ![“The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.” quote by Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg) > “The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.” [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s solutions is hidden and must be discovered, like a combination locked inside a safe. **In simple terms:** Life’s purpose is concealed and requires effort to uncover. Key Takeaway Seek and unlock your personal purpose. Themes purpose search self‑discovery Mood inquisitive hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - spiritual practice - creative projects - personal development Key Concepts metaphor of a safe inner journey Questions to Reflect On - What steps are you taking to discover your purpose? - How do you stay motivated when progress feels hidden? A Different Perspective Finding the combination may be challenging and uncertain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Combination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combination/) [Combination Locked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combination-locked-5242032/) [Locked Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locked-safe-5242031/) [Locked up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locked-up/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe/) [Safe Combination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe-combination-3137614/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [I got this world stuck in a safe, combination is the G-Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-got-this-world-stuck-in-a-safe-combination-is-the-g-code/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“A brick could be locked in a safe, because nobody will try to steal it there. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-brick-could-be-locked-in-a-safe-because-nobody-will-try-to-steal-it/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [Genius, whether locked up in a cell or roaming at large, is always solitary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/genius-whether-locked-up-in-a-cell-or-roaming-at-large-is-always/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [A children's author on a soapbox is not a pleasant sight but I have become drawn into issues, slightly unwillingly, relating to young people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/a-children-s-author-on-a-soapbox-is-not-a-pleasant-sight-but-i-have/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [The mythology around colorblindness leads people to imagine that if poor kids of color are failing or getting locked up in large numbers, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mythology-around-colorblindness-leads-people-to-imagine-that-if/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Boyfriend in jail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonomiss-projects/boyfriend-in-jail/) [Anonomiss Projects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonomiss-projects/) > [Who knows where I would be if I didn't come to L.A. I probably would have been locked up or dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-leto/who-knows-where-i-would-be-if-i-didn-t-come-to-l-a-i-probably-would/) [Shannon Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-leto/) > [I had gone to jail, but I wasn't gettin' locked up for drugs then. I was gettin' locked up for guns. My moms kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-notorious-b-i-g/i-had-gone-to-jail-but-i-wasn-t-gettin-locked-up-for-drugs-then-i-was/) [The Notorious B.I.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-notorious-b-i-g/) > [They are hypocrites, they think the Church is a cage to keep God in, so he will stay locked up there and not go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/they-are-hypocrites-they-think-the-church-is-a-cage-to-keep-god-in-so/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/though-i-can-t-change-what-happened-i-can-choose-how-to-react-and-i/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [The fact is that, in prison, you can't just go and be locked up and serve your time. That's not an option. You get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolaj-coster-waldau/the-fact-is-that-in-prison-you-can-t-just-go-and-be-locked-up-and/) [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolaj-coster-waldau/) > [51 years ago, when Hillary Clinton was working on the Goldwater campaign, Bernie Sanders was getting locked up for my rights. 50 years later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/51-years-ago-when-hillary-clinton-was-working-on-the-goldwater/) [Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/) > [I don’t want to be a Princess,” she said finally. “You can’t make me be one.” She knew very well what became of Princesses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-don-t-want-to-be-a-princess-she-said-finally-you-can-t-make-me-be/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [What we, thanks to Jung, call "synchronicity" (coincidence on steroids), Buddhists have long known as "the interpenetration of realities." Whether it's a natural law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/what-we-thanks-to-jung-call-synchronicity-coincidence-on-steroids/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More by Peter De Vries > [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Celibacy is the worst form of self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/celibacy-is-the-worst-form-of-self-abuse/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/marriage-is-a-lottery-in-which-men-stake-their-liberty-and-women/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [What we are assigned to bear is in a sense a measure of our stature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/what-we-are-assigned-to-bear-is-in-a-sense-a-measure-of-our-stature/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [ “Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of \[parenthood\] is not that adults produce children but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/who-of-us-is-mature-enough-for-offspring-before-the-offspring/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [I wondered whether any woman could be happy with a man who says 'folderol'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-wondered-whether-any-woman-could-be-happy-with-a-man-who-says/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [When I see a paragraph shrinking under my eyes like a strip of bacon in a skillet, I know I'm on the right track.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/when-i-see-a-paragraph-shrinking-under-my-eyes-like-a-strip-of-bacon/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other. It may be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/we-must-love-one-another-yes-yes-that-s-all-true-enough-but-nothing/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/gluttony-is-an-emotional-escape-a-sign-something-is-eating-us/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [The tuba is certainly the most intestinal of instruments, the very lower bowel of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-tuba-is-certainly-the-most-intestinal-of-instruments-the-very/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be invented so he could hate that too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/my-father-hated-radio-and-could-not-wait-for-television-to-be/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [You can make a sordid thing sound like a brilliant drawing-room comedy. Probably a fear we have of facing up to the real issues.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/you-can-make-a-sordid-thing-sound-like-a-brilliant-drawing-room/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff - it is a palliative rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/confession-is-good-for-the-soul-only-in-the-sense-that-a-tweed-coat/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Life is a crowded superhighway with bewildering cloverleaf exits on which a man is liable to find himself speeding back in the direction he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/life-is-a-crowded-superhighway-with-bewildering-cloverleaf-exits-on/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [If there's anything I hate it's the word humorist-I feel like countering with the word seriousist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/if-there-s-anything-i-hate-it-s-the-word-humorist-i-feel-like/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) [Explore all 88 Peter De Vries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## More Combination quotes > [Anytime there is any lyrical meaning or combination in my mixes, it's very blatant. I'm not trying to make any statement or anything like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girl-talk/anytime-there-is-any-lyrical-meaning-or-combination-in-my-mixes-it-s/) [Girl Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girl-talk/) > [We do not claim that punning is legitimate wit. Wit consists in combination of ideas, punning in combination of words only. We wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-hosmer/we-do-not-claim-that-punning-is-legitimate-wit-wit-consists-in/) [Harriet Hosmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-hosmer/) > [A successful director is someone who has the combination of skills that you can learn, but there's also an intuitive sensibility that they bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-heinrichs/a-successful-director-is-someone-who-has-the-combination-of-skills/) [Rick Heinrichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-heinrichs/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [A combination of the qualities of the scholar, the master cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman and the pantologist, assisted by the skill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellwanger/a-combination-of-the-qualities-of-the-scholar-the-master-cook-the/) [George Ellwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellwanger/) > [I did play a lot of fingerstyle when I first started playing. I could never really find the right combination of flatpick or fingerpick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-clapton/i-did-play-a-lot-of-fingerstyle-when-i-first-started-playing-i-could/) [Eric Clapton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-clapton/) > [Ballet is pure and demands that you serve something larger than yourself, whether it be beauty or art, or a combination of both. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-martins/ballet-is-pure-and-demands-that-you-serve-something-larger-than/) [Peter Martins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-martins/) > [A thorough understanding of the typical mating continuations makes the most complicated sacrificial combinations leading up to them not only not difficult, but almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegbert-tarrasch/a-thorough-understanding-of-the-typical-mating-continuations-makes/) [Siegbert Tarrasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegbert-tarrasch/) > [I am a combination of my entire family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dionne-warwick/i-am-a-combination-of-my-entire-family/) [Dionne Warwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dionne-warwick/) > [As I work day after day, inspirations from different places go into the work. It's combination, but it's also comparative. I'll be reading two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-banisadr/as-i-work-day-after-day-inspirations-from-different-places-go-into/) [Ali Banisadr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-banisadr/) > [Emile Zola was a poor student at his school at Aix. We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-gardner/emile-zola-was-a-poor-student-at-his-school-at-aix-we-are-all-so/) [Howard Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-gardner/) > [“the previous weeks – a combination of being”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-previous-weeks-a-combination-of-being/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,578 Combination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter De Vries" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-there-is-a-combination-but-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Combination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-there-is-a-combination-but-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/peter-de-vries-7735_combination_the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-the_2267441.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.” — Peter De Vries", "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": "Peter De Vries", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The universe is like a safe...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-there-is-a-combination-but-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-universe-is-like-a-safe-to-which-there-is-a-combination-but-the/#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 } } ] } ```