Alas! we are the sport of destiny.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
And the high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule, or to impose himself in any other way.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
More than anything else, I believe it’s our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
They who talk much of destiny, their birth-star, etc., are in a lower dangerous plane, and invite the evil they fear.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Our problems are man-made—therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be a s big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads onto actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Not without a shudder may the human hand reach into the mysterious urn of destiny.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Both renunciation of action and the performance of action lead to Nirvana (Liberation); but these performance of action is superior to renunciation of action. The action of today becomes the destiny of tomorrow.
—Swami Chinmayananda (1916–93) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
We are not here on earth to change our destiny, but to fulfill it.
—Guy Finley
I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
We still have it in our power to rise above the fears, imagined and real, and to shoulder the great burdens which destiny has placed upon us, not for our country alone, but for the benefit of all the world. That is the only destiny worthy of America.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
As you think, you travel, and as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Destiny is always dark.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
‘Tis all a chequerboard of nights and days Where Destiny with men for pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the closet lays.
—Omar Khayyam (1048–1123) Persian Mathematician
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
To accomplish our destiny it is not enough to merely guard prudently against road accidents. We must also cover before nightfall the distance assigned to each of us.
—Alexis Carrel (1873–1944) American Surgeon, Biologist
Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a part as it may please the master to assign you, for a long time or for a little as he may choose. And if he will you to take the part of a poor man, or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen, then may you act that part with grace! For to act well the part that is allotted to us, that indeed is ours to do, but to choose it is another s.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
We sow our thoughts and reap our actions. We sow our actions and reap our habits. We sow our habits and reap our character. We sow our character, and we reap our destiny.
—Unknown
No wind favors him who has no destined port.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Nothing comes to pass but what God appoints.—Our fate is decreed, and things do not happen by chance, but every man’s portion of joy or sorrow is predetermined.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
If the course of human affairs be considered, it will be seen that many things arise against which heaven does not allow us to guard.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
That which God writes on thy forehead, thou wilt come to it.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Destiny bears us to our lot, and destiny is perhaps our own will.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
There is no such thing as chance; and what seems to us the merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Every man carries with him the world in which he must live.
—Francis Marion Crawford (1854–1909) Italian-born American Novelist, Writer
No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
I am master of my own destiny, and I can make my life anything that I wish it to be.
—Roger McDonald (b.1941) Australian Novelist, Poet, Screenwriter, Writer
Our destiny changes with our thoughts; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thoughts correspond with our desires.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
We are no more free agents than the queen of clubs when she victoriously takes prisoner the knave of hearts.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
But you can catch yourself entertaining habitually certain ideas and setting others aside; and that, I think, is where our personal destinies are largely decided.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Hanging and Riving goes by destiny.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.
—Francois Mauriac (1885–1970) French Novelist
Philosophers never stood in need of Homer or the Pharisees to be convinced that everything is done by immutable laws; that everything is settled; that everything is the necessary effect of some previous cause.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Anatomy is destiny.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Such as we are made of, such we be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
How easy ’tis, when Destiny proves kind, With full-spread sails to run before the wind.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Destiny is an absolutely definite and inexorable ruler. Physical ability and moral determination count for nothing. It is impossible to perform the simplest act when the gods say “no.” I have no idea how they bring pressure to bear on such occasions; I only know that it is irresistible.
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
No cause has he to say his doom is harsh, who’s made the master of his destiny.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.
—French Proverb
No man of woman born, coward or brave, can shun his destiny.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
What God writes on your forehead you will become.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Destiny is our will, and our will is nature.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Fate, then, is a name for facts not yet passed under the fire of thought; for causes which are unpenetrated.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher