Free Will And Destiny Quotes & Sayings

Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it. — Mikhail Bulgakov

If you could decide on characters' destinies it would be like going to the desk of a travel agent who says: So where do you want to find the whale, in Samoa or in the Aleutian Islands? And when? And do you want to be the one who kills it or let Queequeg do it? Whereas the real lesson of Moby-Dick is that the whale goes wherever it wants. — Umberto Eco

The irony of what we define as a mistake can and will sometimes return to you as a redefined destiny that life sends your way without any of your own free will and choice in what happens. It just happens. Something in me changed in that one tell-tale moment. And for some strange reason, I knew there wasn't a way of going back. — Cyndi Goodgame

As the Universe is my witness, I_ now accept my destiny. I accept that I am an aspect of the Divine, I accept that as such I AM THAT I AM. I freely declare that I am now ready to step into my own power and the fullness of my being, in service to humanity and the Divine plan. It is my choice as a free spirit to explore my own potential, and I offer myself in service to Light and unconditional love, now and always. I now ask that I be released from all outstanding Karmic debts or that they be settled now, I now release any debts owed to me. I freely forgive all those who have harmed me and likewise beg the forgiveness of any I may have harmed. I ask for the Divine highest good of all, with love in my heart and of my own free will. So be it. — Raym Richards

Well, the task I've set forth will long outlive our own generation. But together, we too have come through the worst. Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best- a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny. — Ronald Reagan

Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free men to construct a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers! — Salvador Allende

Let us build for the tomorrow, build a nation strong and free; and the Lord who dwells above us, He will bless our destiny". — P. J. Peters

Our responsibility, as individual cells of a living organism, is to perform our individual functions as well as possible. Our orders come from within; they are not imposed from without. We are free to be ourselves, as fully as we can; and the more we are ourselves, the better we will be functioning, and the more satisfaction we will feel. Our lives grow richer and richer as the health of the total organism improves. Our destiny is unimaginably high. — Paul S. Williams

Defining your own truth and then living according to it ... changes your sense of self and sets you free; it makes you fearless -- or at least more courageous -- with every significant person in your life. When you're not so insecure, there are things -- offhand cruelties, insensitivities large and small -- you don't tolerate, things you don't have to deny.... Once you are the one who determines the meaning of your life, nobody can gainsay it. This act of self-assertive defiance immunizes you -- at least to a certain extent -- from ever allowing someone else to control your destiny ever again. — Jeanne Safer

When each of us is free to work out his own economic destiny, within the framework of the market economy, the institution of private property, and the general rule of law, we will all improve our economic condition much faster than when we are ordered around by bureaucrats. — Henry Hazlitt

Dear Sir, poor sir, brave sir." he read, "You are an experiment by the Creator of the Universe. You are the only creature in the entire Universe who has free will. You are the only one who has to figure out what to do next - and why. Everybody else is a robot, a machine. Some persons seem to like you, and others seem to hate you, and you must wonder why. They are simply liking machines and hating machines. You are pooped and demoralized, " read Dwayne. "Why wouldn't you be? Of course it is exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable. — Kurt Vonnegut

Life is not about fulfilling a destiny. Your life has no destiny but what you make of it. And this is what I want to make of it. Barracus also told me to live the life that only I can live. He told me to have the courage to take up that calling. He was asking me to choose my destiny. Prophecy is not only about destiny, but the balance of free will. Becoming a Confessor is my calling. But it's not pre-ordained. It's a chance, a fork in the road of my life. I have to have the courage to take it on of my free will. In that way, the balance of prophecy and free will is the magic of the future. — Terry Goodkind

Future is predestined and unchangeable. — Vivake Pathak

Life is a combination of destiny and free will. Rain is destiny; whether you get wet or not is free will! — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Failing to meet your true destiny is a tragic act of free will. — Anthon St. Maarten

Remember that the choices you make, and the reasons you make them, shape your destiny. Remember your free will ... And remember, what the True One has made is supposed to bring balance and unity, not anger, fear or revenge. Do not fear, what is yours to use. Only beware the ends to which it is turned, and know the means will truly determine the outcome. — Derek Donais

I was very fierce and very driven at eighteen. But my basic philosophy I think has stayed the same, I'm still an atheist, I still believe strongly in the power of free will (despite the mysticism in my prose). I don't believe in the notion of a pre-ordained destiny, and I think because of the sudden death of my father at sixteen I learnt then that it is essential to live life to the fullest as it could be snatched away at any second. — Tobsha Learner

There is no greater moment in life than that when we discover the unique design which has shaped our lives from the moment of birth, save one:
The instant we recognize destiny, accept it and then begin to create the rest of our own lives within it using the power of free will.
When this threshold has been crossed, nothing can stop our inevitable journey into the highest good for ourselves and all around us.
This is healing.
This is actualization.
This is integration.
This is joy.
And it is the birthright of every incarnated soul on this planet. — Jacob Nordby

Which brings me to my conclusion upon Free Will and Predestination, namely - let the reader mark it - that they are identical. — Winston Churchill

Tonight, however, all I can think of is the juxtaposition of destiny and free will, and whether it makes no difference what I do, or all the difference in the world. — Laurie Viera Rigler

With every sunrise, we get to choose ... who we are, what we believe, and how we will live the life the gods have given us. We can't always choose our circumstances. No. The Fates do that. But we can always choose who we will be and how we will be within them. — Nicole Y. Walters

At this unprecedented juncture in our history I have a word for you. Do not be disheartened by our temporary defeat ; be cheerful and optimistic. Above all, never lose your faith in the destiny of India. There is no power on earth which can keep India in bondage. India will be free and, that too, soon. JAl-HIND ! — Subhas Chandra Bose

Men speak of blind destiny, a thing without scheme or purpose. But what sort of destiny is that? Each act in this world from which there can be no turning back has before it another, and it another yet. In a vast and endless net. Men imagine that the choices before them are theirs to make. But we are free to act only upon what is given. Choice is lost in the maze of generations and each act in that maze is itself an enslavement for it voids every alternative and binds one ever more tightly into the constraints that make a life. If the dead man could have forgiven his enemy for whatever wrong was done to him all would have been otherwise. Did the son set out to avenge his father? Did the dead man sacrifice his son? Our plans are predicated upon a future unknown to us. The world takes its form hourly by a weighing of things at hand, and while we may seek to puzzle out that form we have no way to do so. We have only God's law, and the wisdom to follow it if we will. — Cormac McCarthy

For my part I have sought liberty more than power, and power only because it can lead to freedom. What interested me was not a philosophy of the free man (all who try that have proved tiresome), but a technique: I hoped to discover the hinge where our will meets and moves with destiny, and where discipline strengthens, instead of restraining, our nature. — Marguerite Yourcenar

But destiny will be accomplished, and the best man will hold his ground while the undeserving one will vanish into his back-alley for ever - his filthy back-alley, his beloved back-alley, where he is at home and where he will sink in filth and stench at his own free will with enjoyment. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Lord God, I confess that my son/daughter is loosed from all bondage - set free by the precious blood of Jesus. No past, present, or future bondage will ever prevail against . The world, sin, deception, satanic enticements, the flesh, even fear of death - none of these things will ever be able to enslave this child who is dedicated to You. I pray that You will always be a deliverer, guardian, and guide to , bringing him/her out of any weakness, darkness, or difficult situation of life. I pray that by Your mighty hand You will lead my child into the promised land of his/her destiny. You are the almighty God! There is nothing too hard for You! So I declare redemption over my offspring, believing it will come to pass. In the name of Jesus, amen (let it be so)! — Mike Shreve

I have always felt like a pawn ... My skin color's been a curse, my missionary parents made me sober and intense, my school days brought me up against political crimes against Animals, my love life imploded and my lover died, and if I had any life's work of my own, I haven't found it yet, except in animal husbandry, if you could call it that. — Gregory Maguire

The whole struggle was over, and yet there seemed to have been no moment of victory. You might say, if you liked, that the power of choice had been simply set aside and an inflexible destiny substituted for it. On the other hand, you might say he had delivered from the rhetoric of his passions and had emerged in unassailable freedom. Ransom could not for the life of him, see any difference between these two statements. Predestination and freedom were apparently identical. He could no longer see any meaning in the many arguments he had heart on the subject. — C.S. Lewis

This must be our day to define the best of who we are and what we will stand for. Tonight, in the glow of gratitude for our free will, let us write down the words and phrases that describe our ideal identity. Put them on beautiful paper and in ink. Carry them everywhere. Look at these words, memorize them, verbalize them - become them. The more we align our actions with this identity, the more free, motivated, and whole we shall become. Life will feel brighter and more our own, more deep and satisfying. Destiny will smile on us and we will be welcomed into the gates of heaven as people of purpose and integrity. — Brendon Burchard

Why would you want to be free of your destiny? Nothing else will satisfy. As for freedom, that's a matter of the heart. Pursue your destiny, and you'll find your freedom along the way. — Karyn Henley

Life starts out as partly destiny and partly free will, but then you have kids, and it's all destiny. — Robert Breault

America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness, which are derived from Holy Scripture. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a very simple thing to ask of you. I ask of every man and woman in this audience that, from this night on, they will realize that part of the destiny of America lies in their daily perusal of this great Book of revelations. (The Bible) That if they would see America free and pure they will make their own spirits free and pure by the baptism of Holy Scripture. — Woodrow Wilson

I believe that we have free will. I believe we get the chance to make choices in our lives. Not everything is set in stone from the moment we're born. We choose our destiny, our ultimate fate. But I also think that we don't realize the choices we've made until after we make them. We're racing down a freeway, only to realize we've missed all the exits, and the only direction we can go is dead ahead. — Neal Shusterman

Yeah, I'm listenin'," Morganith answered, "and Arda once told me pregnant Alteri women can see what might come to pass, not what will come to pass. What they see is just what people chose to do of their own shitty free will, not what they were forced to do by some gods. — Ash Gray

Believe it or not, the notions of free will and destiny are not mutually exclusive.
Predestination is the universal framework of limits (based on natural physical laws) placed upon us.
Free will is our infinite ability to make choices within that framework.
Because the universal scale is so great - and most of it constitutes an undiscovered frontier - our choices are only limited by our knowledge, our abilities, and our imagination.
To put it simply, the world is such a huge playground sandbox that we will never run out of sand or reach the faraway safety fence of destiny.
So go out there and play! — Vera Nazarian

It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor. — Stephen King

Ash pulled me closer, his eyes gentle as they gazed into mine. "Meghan, I'm going to tell you something someone once told me, when I was afraid of what was to come." He lowered his head, soft strands of his hair brushing my skin. "Nothing is certain," he murmured. "The future is constantly changing, and no one can predict what will happen next. We have the power to change our destiny, because fate is not set in stone, and we are always free to make a choice." His fingers came up to brush my hair back, tucking it behind one ear. "A very powerful seer told me that, once. And she was right. That's why I'm not afraid of the oracle's prophecy, or the future. We are only slaves to fate if we let it control us. There is always a choice. — Julie Kagawa

I like coincidences. They make me wonder about destiny, and whether free will is an illusion or just a matter of perspective. They let me speculate on the idea of some master plan that, from time to time, we're allowed to see out of the corner of our eye. — Chuck Sigars

Free will (noun):
A delusional idea that humans are in control of their own destiny and not subject to the benevolent rule of The One Who Is The One. — James Patterson

The conundrum of free will and destiny has always kept me dangling. — William Shatner

A plot, I used to remind my students, is not merely a sequence of events: "A" followed by "B" followed by "C" followed by "D." Rather, it's a series of events linked by cause and effect: "A" causes "B," which causes "C," and so on. True, a person's (or a fictional character's) destiny may be more than the sum of his choices
fate and luck play a role as well
but only scientists (and not all of them) believe that free will is a sham. People in life
and therefore in fiction
must choose, and their choices must have meaningful consequences. Otherwise, there's no story. — Richard Russo

People who are focused on the past will quickly become a weight that will hold you back. You must break free from those relationships and embrace those who will take you to your future. Link yourself up with those who are going somewhere. Seek out those who have a vision for their lives, and find your place at their table. These are the people who will open the door to your destiny. These types of individuals will not waste time, nor are they looking — Robb Thompson

Here's an example. When I first met Nick Gautier it was fated that he was to get married at age thirty and have a dozen kids. As our friendship grew, I lost the ability to see how his future would play out. Then in one moment of anger, I changed his destiny by telling him he should kill himself. I didn't mean it, but as a god of fate, such proclamations when made by me are law. Fate realigned the circumstances around him that would lead him to make a decision to take his own life. The woman he was to marry ended up dead in her store. His mother's life was taken by a Daimon and Nick shot himself at her feet. My free will would have been to not lash out at him. Instead I did. His free will would have been to seek revenge as a human against a Daimon and not kill himself. But because of who I am, my proclamation that he kill himself outweighed his will and he didn't really have any choice. I took his free will and I cost him everyone who was close to him. (Acheron) — Sherrilyn Kenyon

Every life is a mystery. And every story of every life is a mystery. But it is not what happens that is the mystery. It is whether it has to happen no matter what, whether it is ordered and ordained, fixed and fated, or whether it can be missed, avoided, circumvented, passed by; that is the mystery.
If she had not come along the Via Piemonte that day, would it still have happened? If she had come along the Via Piemonte that day, but ten minutes later than she did, would it still have happened? Therein lies the real mystery. And no one ever knows, and no one ever will.
("For The Rest Of Her Life") — Cornell Woolrich

Plato spoke of the Sisters of Fate on the last 3 pages of his book, "The Republic" when he said: "Then the Sisters of Fate take all of our choices and weave them on their loom into the fabric of destiny. Hear the word of Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity. Mortal souls, behold a new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to you, but you will choose your genius; and let him who draws the first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honors' or dishonors her he will have more or less of her; the responsibility is with the chooser - God is justified" [Quote from Plato's Republic written 360BCE In the Public Domain] — D.M. Hoover

For me, doing the actual work to fulfill the vision is the easy part. It's the emotional journey that I go through as I am free falling into the unknown that is the hard part. But each time I jump, I'm learning to trust that God will continue to guide me and help me to land safely. — Yvonne Pierre

No matter what your background, no matter how low your station in life, there must be no limit on your ability to reach for the stars, to go as far as your God-given talents will take you. Trust the people; believe every human being is capable of greatness, capable of self-government ... only when people are free to worship, create, and build, only when they are given a personal stake in deciding their destiny and benefiting from their own risks, only then do societies become dynamic, prosperous, progressive, and free. — Ronald Reagan

In my heart, I am American, and I believe I have a free will and can take charge of my own destiny. — Ruth Ozeki

You know, it's the same thing as the question of free will and destiny, the question of creativity - you, the artist, you're not the puppet of the piano, you're not the puppet of the muse, but you're not its master, either. It's a relationship, it's a conversation, and all it wants is to be treated with respect and dignity - and it will return ten thousand times over. — Elizabeth Gilbert

Instead, he uttered another complaint. "You're allowing a dusty old book to control your destiny!" A book controlling me? Heat shot to my temples. I shifted in my saddle to face him fully. "Understand this, Your Majesty, there's been a lot of effort to control my life, but it hasn't come from books! Look a little further back! A kingdom that betrothed me to an unknown prince controlled my destiny. A Komizar who commandeered my voice controlled my destiny. And a young king who would force protection on me thought he would control my destiny. Make no mistake about it, Rafe. I am choosing my destiny now - not a book, nor a man or a kingdom. If my goals and heart coincide with something in an old dusty book, so be it. I choose to serve this goal, just as you are free to choose yours!" I lowered my voice and added with cold certainty, "I promise you, King Jaxon, if Morrighan falls, Dalbreck will be next, and then every other kingdom on the continent until the Komizar has consumed them all. — Mary E. Pearson

Is man's destiny determined by the vicissitudes of environment or free will? I argue that it is free will, because what we think, what we dwell upon in our heads, whether it be fears or dreams, has a direct effect upon the physical world. The more you think about your downfall, your ruin, the greater the likelihood that it will occur. And conversely, the more one thinks of victory, the more likely one will achieve it. — Marisha Pessl

We have the free will to choose how we react to those stimuli every moment of our life and what we choose creates our destiny. — Thomas Vazhakunnathu

When people talk about destiny, they tend to forget that it isn't deprived from free will, free will to both accept it or destroy it. If you were meant to find love and then hurt the person that loves you back, you've just exercised your free will against destiny, and that destiny, that brought that person to you, will now use the exact same force to pull such person away from you. You cannot violate the spiritual laws of the universe. You will always pay a heavy price for being ignorant about this fact. You have the free will to do whatever you wish in the paradise of life, but only as long as you don't violate the sacred rules, when eating the fruit of selfishness, the tree of good and evil. That need to explore discernment will cost you your happiness, and expel you from the paradise destined to you. — Robin Sacredfire

Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will, creating his own destiny. The Vedas tell us, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. — Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

I am a hidden meaning made to defy. The grasp of words, and walk away With free will and destiny. As living, revolutionary clay. — Muhammad Iqbal

The art of making True promises within ones ownself is termed as Will (Sankalp) ... for beginners (like me) it is a tough learning and for siddhas; they just become that way ... effortlessly they sail ... — Dinesh Kumar

Very well," it said. "I am a mighty fortress, sheathed in stone."
King Vikram thought for a moment.
"I am a catapult," he said. "Stone-breaking, fortress-sundering."
"I am a saboteur," countered the vetala. "Oath-breaker, weapon disabler."
"I am ill luck," said King Vikram. "Upending plots, dismaying plans."
The vetala was favorably impressed.
"I am fortune," it said. "I crown luck with destiny."
"I am free will," said King Vikram. "I challenge destiny with choice."
"I am divine will," said the vetala, "to which choice and destiny are one and the same."
"I am myself," said King Vikram. "The only thing that is mine to give, by choice or by destiny. — G. Willow Wilson

Man has free will and creates his destiny based upon his actions. — Ashwin Sanghi

We are built to desire free will and to choose our own destiny. It's not about being right or wrong; it's about the celebration of life, your free will. The human spirit must constantly be fed. It is what makes us survive. — DeiAmor Verus

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause. Hope is what led me here today
with a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have courage to remake the world as it should be. [January 3, 2008] — Barack Obama

God maintains a delicate balance between keeping his existence sufficiently evident so people will know he's there and yet hiding his presence enough so that people who want to choose to ignore him can do it. This way, their choice of destiny is really free. — J.P. Moreland

As in other tests it was now the moment of decision; she was given a final chance to reverse the inevitable course of destiny - ever does free will move through the gate that binds the past and future. — Don Bradley

To what extent does anybody control his destiny? Life is very much like falling of the edge of a cliff. You have complete freedom to make all the choices you want to take on your way down. My characters choose to yearn and not lose hope even when the odds are completely against them. It doesn't make the landing at the end of that fall any less painful but, somehow, it helps them keep a little dignity their bone broken body. — Etgar Keret

I think that both our lives and the potential directions our lives may go are predestined. By using our free will in making our life choices, we do nothing else but picking up one of many already predestined options. To us, it seems like we were making the decision, while in reality, we just selected one of many possibilities that were already a part of our destiny. — Stevan V. Nikolic