--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our destiny exercises its influence over…" description: "\"Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg" --- # Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as… ![“Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg) > “Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Future possibilities shape present actions, even before we understand them. **In simple terms:** Future influences today. Key Takeaway Consider long‑term impact. Themes fate future agency psychology philosophy Mood contemplative inquisitive motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - strategic decision‑making - educational design - policy forecasting Key Concepts determinism self‑creation temporal causality Questions to Reflect On - What future outcomes guide your current choices? - How can you balance destiny with agency? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on destiny can diminish personal responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Destiny Exercises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny-exercises-4351394/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-today-2309504/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Our destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-destiny/) [Our future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-future/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [That which is a law today is none tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burton/that-which-is-a-law-today-is-none-tomorrow/) [Robert Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burton/) > [“Lawyers have us trained to believe nothing is airtight, any agreement can be broken, and that life is one big loophole. A handshake ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-huntsman-sr/lawyers-have-us-trained-to-believe-nothing-is-airtight-any-agreement/) [Jon M. Huntsman Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-huntsman-sr/) > [Alliances are part of our destiny as a nation, part of our future as a nation and this is what guides me in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/alliances-are-part-of-our-destiny-as-a-nation-part-of-our-future-as-a/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [If we would see the color of our future, we must look for it in our present; if we would gaze on the star…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-would-see-the-color-of-our-future-we-must-look-for-it-in-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/our-future-may-lie-beyond-our-vision-but-it-is-not-completely-beyond-2/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching ethics, or our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/there-are-problems-to-whose-solution-i-would-attach-an-infinitely/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Whatever your circumstances, whatever your past, the forces that determine your future are nowhere but within your own heart and mind. It is here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/whatever-your-circumstances-whatever-your-past-the-forces-that/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-victor-hansen/you-control-your-future-your-destiny-what-you-think-about-comes-about-2/) [Mark Victor Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-victor-hansen/) > [We ought to face our destiny with courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-ought-to-face-our-destiny-with-courage/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [She was no longer that happy creature who in earlier youth wandered with me on the banks of the lake and talked with ecstasy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/she-was-no-longer-that-happy-creature-who-in-earlier-youth-wandered/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [Every fact and every work exercises a fresh persuasion over every age and every new species of man. History always enunciates new truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-fact-and-every-work-exercises-a-fresh-persuasion-over-every-age/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Two questions help us see why we are unlikely to get what we want by using punishment... The first question is: What do I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/two-questions-help-us-see-why-we-are-unlikely-to-get-what-we-want-by/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [Force was the factor in the government of the world when Christ was born, and force was the source and exercise of authority both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-depew/force-was-the-factor-in-the-government-of-the-world-when-christ-was/) [Chauncey Depew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-depew/) > [Life will drag us kicking and screaming to our destiny if we try to escape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/life-will-drag-us-kicking-and-screaming-to-our-destiny-if-we-try-to/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Destiny quotes > [... War on the destiny of man! Doom on the sun! Before death takes you, O take back this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/war-on-the-destiny-of-man-doom-on-the-sun-before-death-takes-you-o/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [ Man blindly works the will of fate. \[Ger., Blindlings that er blos den Willen des Geschickes.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-martin-wieland/man-blindly-works-the-will-of-fate-ger-blindlings-that-er-blos-den/) [Christoph Martin Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-martin-wieland/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“It's morning now, and I miss the soft rasp of her voice already. Ugh. I'm in trouble, aren't I?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-shand/it-s-morning-now-and-i-miss-the-soft-rasp-of-her-voice-already-ugh-i/) [Pat Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-shand/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [“Failing to meet your true destiny is a tragic act of free will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/failing-to-meet-your-true-destiny-is-a-tragic-act-of-free-will/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Somehow destiny comes into play. These children end up with you and you end up with them. It's something quite magical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/somehow-destiny-comes-into-play-these-children-end-up-with-you-and/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Destiny is the ordained intention God has sacredly prepared with your name on it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-s-lynch/destiny-is-the-ordained-intention-god-has-sacredly-prepared-with-your/) [John S. Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-s-lynch/) > [“There is no interaction without God with interaction with men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/there-is-no-interaction-without-god-with-interaction-with-men/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“Fate and future both are servant to the determined, for they are nothing but creation of human determination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fate-and-future-both-are-servant-to-the-determined-for-they-are/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) [Browse all 7,925 Destiny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over-us-even-when-as-yet-we-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destiny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over-us-even-when-as-yet-we-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/friedrich-nietzsche-15_destiny_our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over_1313201.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our…” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our destiny exercises its influence over...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over-us-even-when-as-yet-we-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-destiny-exercises-its-influence-over-us-even-when-as-yet-we-have/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```