Fate

Explore 25 quotes about Fate

Zeus does not bring all men's plans to fulfillment.

Achilles

Quoted in The Iliad, by Homer

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Topic

God and man Fate

Speaker

Achilles

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 18, l. 328.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 18, l. 328.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men,
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief and pain,
For promis'd joy.

Robert Burns

More information about this quote

Topic

Making plans Dashed hopes Fate The unexpected

Author

Robert Burns

Source

To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With the Plough.

Medium

Poem

Language

Scots

Time

1785 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Burns, Robert. "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785." Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Kilmarnock: John Wilson, 1786.

Current Citation

Burns, Robert. "To a Mouse." Robert Burns: Selected Poems, edited by Carol Mcguirk. Penguin Classics, 1994.

I often feel, and ever more deeply I realize, that Fate and character are the same conception.

Novalis

More information about this quote

Topic

Character Fate

Speaker

Heinrich von Ofterdingen

Author

Novalis

Source

Heinrich von Ofterdingen

Language

German

Time

1802 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Novalis. Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Berlin, 1802, pt. 2.

Current Citation

Novalis. Henry von Ofterdingen. Dover Publications, 2015, pt. 2.

By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike.

Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

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Topic

Twists of fate Fate

Author

Herman Melville

Source

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. London: Richard Bentley/New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, ch. 132.

Current Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick or, The Whale. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 132.

Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

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Topic

Fate vs. free will Free will Fate

Speaker

Cassius

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Julius Caesar

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play) Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1599 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, 1599, Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Julius Caesar." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 2.

Our destiny rules over us, even when we are not yet aware of it; it is the future that makes laws for our to-day.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Human, All Too Human

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Topic

Fate Destiny

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

Human, All Too Human

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1878 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für freie Geister [Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeizner, 1878, preface.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits, translated by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann. University of Nebraska Press, 1984, preface.

Time’s the king of men.
He’s both their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.

William Shakespeare

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

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Topic

Fate Mortality Passage of time Time The human condition

Speaker

Pericles

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1608 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William and George Wilkins. Pericles, Prince of Tyre. King's Men, c. 1608, Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Pericles." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 3.

Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.

Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club

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Topic

Fate

Author

Amy Tan

Source

The Joy Luck Club

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1989.

And fate? No one alive has ever escaped it, neither brave man nor coward, I tell you-it’s born with us the day that we are born.

Hector

Quoted in The Iliad, by Homer

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Topic

Fate

Speaker

Hector

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk 6, l. 486-489.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 6, l. 486-489.

I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floatin’ around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both get happening at the same time.

Forrest Gump

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Topic

Purpose of life Randomness Fate The human condition

Speaker

Forrest Gump

Actor

Tom Hanks

Source

Forrest Gump

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Forrest Gump. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, The Tisch Company, 1994.

Whatever befalls you was prepared for you beforehand from eternity, and the thread of causes was spinning from everlasting both your existence and this which befalls you.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Fate Free will

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 10.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 10.

Whom the gods love dies young.

Menander

More information about this quote

Topic

Dying young Youth Fate

Author

Menander

Medium

Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Greek

Time

290 BC 290s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Menander. "Dis Exapaton [The Double Deceiver]." Plays and Fragments. c. 290 BC.

Current Citation

Menander. "Twice a Swindler (Dis Exapaton)." Plays and Fragments, translated by Maurice Balme. Oxford University Press, 2008.

War is father of all and king of all. Some he reveals as gods, other as men; some he makes slaves, other free.

Heraclitus

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Topic

War Fate

Author

Heraclitus

Medium

Presocratic fragment Fragment

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Heraclitus. Fragments. 5th century BC, F23 - DK B53.

Current Citation

Heraclitus. "Heraclitus of Ephesus." The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009, F23 - DK B53.

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven.

William Shakespeare

All’s Well that Ends Well

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Topic

Solving problems Personal responsibility Locus of control Free will Fate

Speaker

Helena

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

All’s Well that Ends Well

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "All's Well that Ends Well." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "All's Well That Ends Well." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.

I never forgot. Not for one moment. I knew I'd find you in the end. It's our destiny.

Slumdog Millionaire

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Topic

Fate Love

Speaker

Youngest Jamal

Actor

Ayush Mahesh Khedekar

Source

Slumdog Millionaire

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

2008 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Slumdog Millionaire. Directed by Danny Boyle, Celador Films/Film4 Productions, 2008.

Be happy, drink, think each day your own as you live it and leave the rest to fortune.

Euripides

Alcestis

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Topic

Letting go Contentment Happiness Fate

Speaker

Heracles

Author

Euripides

Source

Alcestis

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

438 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Euripides. Ἄλκηστις [Alcestis]. 438 BC, City Dionysia festival, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Euripides. "Alcestis." Euripides I: Alcestis, Medea, The Children of Hercules, Hippolytus, edited and translated by Richard Lattimore, et. al. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Do not try to find out-we're forbidden to know-what end the gods may bestow on me or you.

Horace

Odes

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Topic

Fate God and man

Author

Horace

Source

Odes

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Advice

Language

Latin

Time

23 BC 20s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Carmina [Odes]. 23 BC, bk. 1, no. 11.

Current Citation

Horace. "Odes." The Complete Odes and Epodes, translated by David West. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 1, no. 11.

It is very strange that I, a boy brought up in the woods, and seeing, as it were, but little of the world, should be drifted into the very apex of this great event.

Abraham Lincoln

More information about this quote

Topic

American Civil War Fate

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

The Daily Dispatch

Medium

Interview Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1864 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Interview of a Canadian Editor with the President." The Daily Dispatch (Richmond), 5 Sept. 1864.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. Quoted in "The People with the Governing Power," Conversations with Lincoln by Charles M. Segal. G. P. Putman's Sons, 1961.

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

John Lewis

More information about this quote

Topic

Fate Political progress Progress Politics

Author

John Lewis

Medium

Tweet

Language

English

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lewis, John [@repjohnlewis]. "We may not have chose the time, but the time has chosen us." Twitter, 11 July 2016, 4:21 p.m., twitter.com/repjohnlewis/status/752505298326319104

Do your duty, and leave the outcome to the Gods.

Pierre Corneille

More information about this quote

Topic

Doing one's job Duty God and man Fate

Speaker

Old Horace

Author

Pierre Corneille

Source

Horace

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Advice

Language

French

Time

1640 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Corneille, Pierre. Horace. Mar. 1640, Théâtre du Marais, Paris, France, act 2, sc. 8.

Current Citation

Corneille, Pierre. "Horace." Chief Plays of Corneille, translated by Lacy Lockert. Princeton University Press, 2015, act 2, sc. 8.