Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Nothing outside the will can hinder or harm the will; it can only harm itself. If then we accept this, and, when things go amiss, are inclined to blame ourselves, remembering that judgment alone can disturb our peace and constancy, I swear to you by all the gods that we have made progress.

Men are not yet ready to shape their own destinies, to control and direct world events, of which -- instead -- they become the victims.

Heaven has given to every human being the power of controlling his passions, and if he neglects or loses it, the fault is his own, and he must be answerable for it.

We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls.

We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.

Man is man, and master of his fate.

Men not living to what they know, cannot blame God, that they know no more.

That is why Christians are told not to judge. We see only the results which a man's choices make out of his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it.

Whatever our fate is or may be, we have made it and do not complain of it." - Vronksy {Anna Karenina}

But if anything in thy own dispositiongives thee pain, who hinders thee from correcting thy opinion? And even if thou art pained because thou art not doing some particular thing which seems to thee to be right, why dost thou not rather act than complain?- But some insuperable obstacle is in the way?- Do not be grieved then, for the cause of its not being done depends not on thee.- But it is not worth while to live if this cannot be done.- Take thy departure then from life contentedly, just as he dies who is in full activity, and well pleased too with the things which are obstacles.

We do not what we ought; What we ought not, we do; And lean upon the thought That chance will bring us through; But our own acts, for good or ill, are mightier powers.

It’s up to you, not fate. True. But it was also up to Lily. That was the trickiest part.

For misery don't blame God. He gives the food but we cook it.

"What we control," Juliette said, "is our actions once fate puts us there."

If I go to hell, then heavens to blame

...one doubts existence of free will [because] every action determined by heredity, constitution, example of others or teaching of others." "This view should teach one profound humility, one deserves no credit for anything...nor ought one to blame others.

God judges men according to the use they make of the light which He gives them.

To sit back and let fate play its hand out and never influence it is not the way man was meant to operate.

There was a time when I let go of the reins and thought, What's meant to happen will happen. That's probably one of my biggest faults as a person, and something that I've had to work really hard on: believing in this idea that the universe will decide for me. The universe is not going to decide in your favor.

Not all or even most suffering is at the hands of fate; it befalls us at our invitation.

To lead a blameless life you must curb your passions , and whatever misfortune may befall you cannot be ascribed by anyone to want of good luck, or attributed to fate; these words are devoid of sense, and all fault will rightly fall on your own head.

Men are free to decide their own moral choices, but they are also under the necessity to account to God for those choices.

If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.

Whether or not belive in Fate comes down to one thing: who you blame when something goes wrong. Do you think it's your fault - that if you'd tried better, worked harder, it wouldn't have happened? Or do you just chalk it up to circumstance? I know poeple who'll hear about the people who died, and will say that it was God's will. I know people who'll say it was bad luck. And then there's my personal favorite: They were just in the wrong place at hte wrong time. Then again, you could say the same thing about me, couldn't you?

To a woman who complained about her destiny the Master said, "It is you who make your destiny." "But surely I am not responsible for being born a woman?" "Being born a woman isn't destiny. That is fate. Destiny is how you accept your womanhood and what you make of it."