quotations about fate
Several of the Fallacies instanced by the ancients turn on the supposition of ... an irrevocable Fate, which I do not admit; but the error in such cases ... arises from introducing the idea of human agency as something contingent into the reasoning at a later stage--a supposition which is inconsistent with the former. Such is the argument ascribed to the sick man; if I am fated to recover, I shall recover whether I employ a Physician or not; if I am fated to die, I shall die whether I employ a Physician or not; consequently the employment of a Physician can have no effect on the issue, and I will not employ him. This reasoning is inconsistent with the assumption of an universal irrevocable Fate, since it assumes that the employment or non-employment of a Physician is in the power of the sick man. If all things are determined by an irrevocable Fate, this Fate has already determined either that a Physician shall be consulted or that he shall not, and all deliberation on the subject must, therefore, be resultless. And while this consideration disposes of the practical Conclusion, I will not call in a Physician, it may be added that even the theoretical Conclusion, it is indifferent whether a Physician is called in or not, does not follow from the Premisses. For Fate does not exclude second causes, unless we assume that Fate never makes use of one thing to accomplish another. Fate may have not only ordained that the sick man shall recover, but that his recovery shall be caused by the attendance of a Physician--this attendance being, of course, ordained by Fate also. Nor could the sick man even infer, it is indifferent whether I resolve to call in a Physician or not: for Fate may have ordained that the sick man's resolution to call in the Physician (a resolution likewise produced by Fate) shall be the cause of his attendance, and that his attendance shall be the cause of the ultimate recovery which has been ordained by Fate.
WILLIAM HENRY STANLEY MONCK
An Introduction to Logic
Whatever be thy fate today,
Remember, this will pass away!
JOHN GODFREY SAXE
"The Old Man's Motto"
A bald man felt the sun's fierce rays
Scorch his defenseless head,
In haste to shun the noontide blaze
Beneath a palm he fled:
Prone as he lay, a heavy fruit
Crashed through his drowsy brain:
Whom fate has sworn to persecute
Finds every refuge vain.
BHARTRHARI
"The Praise of Destiny"
Fate often enough will spare a man if his courage holds.
JOHN GARDNER
Grendel
There is a dark fate that awaits the wicked, when the consequences of their deeds are revealed; there is a brighter fate, a fate of peace, rest, knowledge, and honor for those who have struggled to live life well and with nobility and wisdom. In this, you must always trust. These dark mysteries of consequence belong to the Underworld, to the Fate-weaver herself, and the powerful king below, and they are not often spoken of. Whatever becomes of each of the journeying dead, it is for them to know and endure. The lesson here is that we should always strive to live well, and with clean intentions.
ROBIN ARTISSON
The Flaming Circle
He who has to explain fate must be just as ambiguous as fate is.
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
The Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard
The coward fears the prick of Fate, not he who dares all, becoming himself the dreaded one.
ELISE PUMPELLY CABOT
"Arizona"
Dumb Fate whispers in no man's ear his coming doom;
Each thinks--"not I--not I."
DINAH CRAIK
"Looking Death in the Face"
Insofar as the meaning of temporal events is not comprehended, time is encountered as fate. Fate is the brute succession of events as such. But events are not merely inflicted on men by the movements of insensible objects. They transpire among men. That is, fate is 'the necessity of the Spirit' itself, an inexorable procession within its own life. Fate, in other words, is historical time, the temporality of human intention.
STEPHEN CRITES
attributed, Hegel's Quest for Certainty
He alone is great Who by a life heroic conquers fate.
SARAH KNOWLES BOLTON
"The Inevitable"
Fate isn't something you control; it's something you inherit.
JOSEPH J. LUCIANI
Self-Coaching
Fate never tires. He is always at work. His plots are delicate and subtle. The cruelties of his tableaux are veiled in the darkness of secrecy.
JOSEPH HATTON
Clytie
Fate is the union of the moment with eternity.
KEIJI NISHITANI
The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism
Our life is determined for us--and it makes the mind very free when we give up wishing, and only think of bearing what is laid upon us, and doing what is given us to do.
GEORGE ELIOT
The Mill on the Floss