--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is easy to make fleeting footprints in…" description: "\"“It is easy to make fleeting footprints in the snow; It is hard to make lasting marks in the stone. Shall I dance ten thousand steps, unwitnessed? Shal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/shen-tao-93190_footprints_it-is-easy-to-make-fleeting-footprints-i_3209360.jpg" --- # It is easy to make fleeting footprints in the snow; It is… ![“It is easy to make fleeting footprints in the snow; It is hard to make lasting marks in the stone. Shall I dance ten thousand steps, unwitnessed? Shall I make one carving, forever known?” quote by Shen Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/shen-tao-93190_footprints_it-is-easy-to-make-fleeting-footprints-i_3209360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/shen-tao-93190_footprints_it-is-easy-to-make-fleeting-footprints-i_3209360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2d/shen-tao-93190_footprints_it-is-easy-to-make-fleeting-footprints-i_3209360.jpg) > ““It is easy to make fleeting footprints in the snow; It is hard to make lasting marks in the stone. Shall I dance ten thousand steps, unwitnessed? Shall I make one carving, forever known?”” [Shen Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shen-tao/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts fleeting, unnoticed actions with enduring, recognized achievements, urging focus on lasting impact. **In simple terms:** Choose lasting impact over fleeting actions. Key Takeaway Create something enduring. Themes legacy impact transience effort recognition Mood reflective inspirational Type Footprints:1 Poetry:1 Transience:1 Transience-of-life:1 Thousand Steps:0 Footprints Snow:0 Fleeting Footprints:0 Steps Unwitnessed:0 When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal projects - public works - memorials Key Concepts impermanence meaning creative expression Questions to Reflect On - What lasting mark will you aim for? - How can you make small actions meaningful? A Different Perspective Hard to sustain lasting impact without perseverance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fleeting Footprints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fleeting-footprints-5989474/) [Footprints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footprints/) [Footprints Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footprints-snow-1356291/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Steps Unwitnessed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps-unwitnessed-5989475/) [Thousand Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-steps-683723/) [Transience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transience/) [Transience-of-life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transience-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [“Since nothing is permanent, will transience conform to this law and become permanent?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/since-nothing-is-permanent-will-transience-conform-to-this-law-and/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Everything is in flux, everything moves all the time. Nothing remains the same forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-gelpke/everything-is-in-flux-everything-moves-all-the-time-nothing-remains/) [Ryan Gelpke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-gelpke/) > [The essence of a sculpture must enter on tip-toe, as light as animal footprints on snow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-arp/the-essence-of-a-sculpture-must-enter-on-tip-toe-as-light-as-animal/) [Hans Arp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-arp/) > [“We don't want to leave footprints in the snow," we'd say, even though in our town it never snowed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-enr-quez/we-don-t-want-to-leave-footprints-in-the-snow-we-d-say-even-though-in/) [Mariana Enríquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-enr-quez/) > [“...you are enchanted - only a princess can leave glass footprints in the snow...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/you-are-enchanted-only-a-princess-can-leave-glass-footprints-in-the/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [Footprints in the snow have been unfailing provokers of sentiment ever since snow was first a white wonder in this drab-coloured world of ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/footprints-in-the-snow-have-been-unfailing-provokers-of-sentiment/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [Some sorrows are but footprints in the snow, which the genial sun effaces, or, if it does not wholly efface, changes into dimples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/some-sorrows-are-but-footprints-in-the-snow-which-the-genial-sun/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“He was footprints in the snow. Not all loves are meant to last. Some are meant to grace you briefly, before fading, somehow leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-simon-gunn/he-was-footprints-in-the-snow-not-all-loves-are-meant-to-last-some/) [Jacqueline Simon Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-simon-gunn/) > [“Dream big dreams, but start small. A journey of thousand steps begins with a step.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/dream-big-dreams-but-start-small-a-journey-of-thousand-steps-begins/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [You've traveled up ten thousand steps in search of the truth. So many days in the archives, copying, copying. The gravity of the Tang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/you-ve-traveled-up-ten-thousand-steps-in-search-of-the-truth-so-many/) [Hsu Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsu-yun/) > [I dream of men who take the next step instead of worrying about the next thousand steps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-dream-of-men-who-take-the-next-step-instead-of-worrying-about-the/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [If you need me and there are one thousand steps between us, just take one step and I'll take nine hundred ninety-nine to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinku-razoria/if-you-need-me-and-there-are-one-thousand-steps-between-us-just-take/) [Tinku Razoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinku-razoria/) > [“If you dream of something worth doing and then simply go to work on it . . . if you think of, detail by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-berger/if-you-dream-of-something-worth-doing-and-then-simply-go-to-work-on-2/) [Warren Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-berger/) > [When toward the Devil's Hose we tread, Woman's a thousand steps behind. \[Ger., Denn geht es zu des Bosen Haus Das Weib hat tausend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-toward-the-devil-s-hose-we-tread-woman-s-a-thousand-steps-behind/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [If there are a thousand steps between us and God, He will take all but one. He will leave the final one for us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/if-there-are-a-thousand-steps-between-us-and-god-he-will-take-all-but/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) ## More by Shen Tao > [“Do you think any of my brothers truly wish to die? The pretense is more insulting to my father’s cold body than if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shen-tao/do-you-think-any-of-my-brothers-truly-wish-to-die-the-pretense-is/) [Shen Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shen-tao/) [Explore all 2 Shen Tao quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shen-tao/) ## More Footprints quotes > [People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime...so you gotta choose who is good for you! Be wise, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-come-into-your-life-for-a-reason-a-season-or-a-lifetime-so-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone leaves footprints in your memory... But the ones that leave footprints in your heart are the ones you will truly remember...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/everyone-leaves-footprints-in-your-memory-but-the-ones-that-leave/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Why tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-tell-me-the-sky-s-the-limit-when-there-are-footprints-on-the-moon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-come-into-your-life-for-a-reason-a-season-or-a-lifetime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some people walk into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts. Others walk into our lives and we want to leave footprints on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-walk-into-our-lives-and-leave-footprints-on-our-hearts/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Customers are speaking to you implicitly via their behavior, captured in the footprints they leave behind in your systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-thompson/customers-are-speaking-to-you-implicitly-via-their-behavior-captured/) [Robert G. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-thompson/) > [Some friends leave footprints in your heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/some-friends-leave-footprints-in-your-heart/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [I believe that certain people come into your life for a reason, they change your life when you don't expect it. These are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/i-believe-that-certain-people-come-into-your-life-for-a-reason-they/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“The sky is not the limit when there are footprints on the moon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-ryan/the-sky-is-not-the-limit-when-there-are-footprints-on-the-moon/) [H D Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-ryan/) > [There are footprints on my heart. Are you just trying to distance yourself? Or were you never really there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhiess-krieg/there-are-footprints-on-my-heart-are-you-just-trying-to-distance/) [Jhiess Krieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhiess-krieg/) > [If you walk in the footprints of others, you wont make any of your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gusso-montanna/if-you-walk-in-the-footprints-of-others-you-wont-make-any-of-your-own/) [Gusso Montanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gusso-montanna/) > [Sometimes people come in and out of our lives for a reason. It is the people that taught you something valuable about life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moores/sometimes-people-come-in-and-out-of-our-lives-for-a-reason-it-is-the/) [Sarah Moores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moores/) > [You reflect on the people who used to be in your life, and it's like, 'Wow, I can't believe that person was ever really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena-gomez/you-reflect-on-the-people-who-used-to-be-in-your-life-and-it-s-like/) [Selena Gomez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena-gomez/) > [“ He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/he-spake-well-who-said-that-graves-are-the-footprints-of-angels-henry/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [Don't reach for the sky, when there are footprints on the moon...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-reyes/don-t-reach-for-the-sky-when-there-are-footprints-on-the-moon/) [JOHN REYES](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-reyes/) [Browse all 256 Footprints quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footprints/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is easy to make fleeting footprints in the snow; It is hard to make lasting marks in the stone. 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