QuoteProject
The mystery of human destiny is that we are fated, but that we have the freedom to fulfill or not fulfill our fate: realization of our fated destiny depends on us. While inhuman beings like the cockroach realize the entire cycle without going astray because they make no choices.
Clarice Lispector
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Human destiny involves both fate and free will, with individuals having the power to shape their own outcomes.

This quote emphasizes the dual nature of human existence: while we may be destined to follow a certain path, the choices we make determine whether we embrace or deviate from that destiny. In contrast, other beings, like cockroaches, intuitively fulfill their roles without the burden of choice, highlighting the uniqueness of human capability for self-determination.

Themes

DestinyFateFree WillChoicesHumanityRealization

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a motivational speech to inspire people to take control of their lives.

More from Clarice Lispector

So long as I have questions to which there are no answers, I shall go on writing.
Clarice LispectorRead
A horse is freedom so indominable that it becomes useless to imprison it to serve man: it lets itself be domesticated, but with a simple, rebellious toss of the head-shaking its mane like an abundance of free-flowing hair-it shows that its inner nature is always wild, translucent and free.
Clarice LispectorRead
Love is now, is always. All that is missing is the coup de grâce- which is called passion.
Clarice LispectorRead
I work only with lost and founds.
Clarice LispectorRead
Ela acreditava em anjo e, porque acreditava, eles existiam" | "She believed in angels, and, because she believed, they existed
Clarice LispectorRead
I write and that way rid myself of me and then at last I can rest.
Clarice LispectorRead

Similar quotes

Fictions are necessary for the people, and the Truth becomes deadly to those who are not strong enough to contemplate it in all its brilliance. In fact, what can there be in common between the vile multitude and sublime wisdom? The Truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason.
Albert PikeRead
There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death?
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
The sort of dependence that results from exchange, i.e., from commercial transactions, is a reciprocal dependence. We cannot be dependent upon a foreigner without his being dependent on us. Now, this is what constitutes the very essence of society. To sever natural interrelations is not to make oneself independent, but to isolate oneself completely.
Frederic BastiatRead
"What would you do with the lazy ones, who would not work?" "No one is lazy. They grow hopeless from the misery of their present existence, and give up. Under our order of things, every man would do the work he liked, and would have as much as his neighbor, so could not be unhappy and discouraged."
Emma GoldmanRead
Through money, democracy becomes its own destroyer, after money has destroyed intellect.
Oswald SpenglerRead
We lie in the lap of immense intelligence.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.