--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The question I'm always asking myself is…" description: "\"The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters or victims? Do we make history, or does history make us? Do we shape the world, or are we just..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72b/salman-rushdie-153_agency_the-question-i-m-always-asking-myself-is_3098928.jpg" --- # The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters… ![“The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters or victims? Do we make history, or does history make us? Do we shape the world, or are we just shaped by it? The question of do we have agency in our lives or whether we are just passive victims of events is, I think, a great question, and…” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72b/salman-rushdie-153_agency_the-question-i-m-always-asking-myself-is_3098928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72b/salman-rushdie-153_agency_the-question-i-m-always-asking-myself-is_3098928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72b/salman-rushdie-153_agency_the-question-i-m-always-asking-myself-is_3098928.jpg) > “The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters or victims? Do we make history, or does history make us? Do we shape the world, or are we just shaped by it? The question of do we have agency in our lives or whether we are just passive victims of events is, I think, a great question, and one that I have always tried to ask.” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores whether individuals control history or are controlled by it, questioning personal agency versus determinism. **In simple terms:** Are we shaping history or being shaped by it? Key Takeaway Reflect on your own agency. Themes agency determinism history self‑reflection Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - career planning - political activism - creative projects Key Concepts philosophy existentialism free will Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel you can change your circumstances? - What forces shape your choices? A Different Perspective Agency can be limited by structural forces and unconscious biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agency/) [Asking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) [Asking Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking-masters-5361694/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Does History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/does-history-1072625/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [Great Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-question-1995590/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masters/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myself/) [Our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-lives/) [Passive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive/) [Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question/) [Question Agency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-agency-5361695/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/us/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The great question...which I have not been able to answer... is, "What...does a woman want?"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/the-great-question-which-i-have-not-been-able-to-answer-is-what-does/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I had studied history at Brown and didn't feel like doing anything with it. What does one do with a history degree besides become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-neel/i-had-studied-history-at-brown-and-didn-t-feel-like-doing-anything/) [Elizabeth Neel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-neel/) > [Does history record any case in which the majority was right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/does-history-record-any-case-in-which-the-majority-was-right/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Grace can and does have a history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-rahner/grace-can-and-does-have-a-history/) [Karl Rahner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-rahner/) > [The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-great-question-which-i-have-not-been-able-to-answer-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Doreen Fernandez' foreword to "Rizal Without the Overcoat": His essays remind us that history need not and should not be relegated to schoolbooks and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambeth-ocampo/doreen-fernandez-foreword-to-rizal-without-the-overcoat-his-essays/) [Ambeth Ocampo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambeth-ocampo/) > [I have yet not been able to answer the great question that has never been answered. 'What does a woman want?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-have-yet-not-been-able-to-answer-the-great-question-that-has-never/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The great question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/the-great-question-is-not-whether-you-have-failed-but-whether-you-are/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [ The Answer to the Great Question Of...Life, the Universe and Everything...\[is\] Forty-two. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-answer-to-the-great-question-of-life-the-universe-and-everything/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Like everything, what compels one to put pen to paper is a great question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-solondz/like-everything-what-compels-one-to-put-pen-to-paper-is-a-great/) [Todd Solondz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-solondz/) > [Does not the history of the world show that there would have been no romance in life if there had been no risks?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/does-not-the-history-of-the-world-show-that-there-would-have-been-no/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The great question which, in all ages, has disturbed mankind, and brought on them the greatest part of their mischiefs ... has been, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/the-great-question-which-in-all-ages-has-disturbed-mankind-and/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [The great question, whether man is of nature or above her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-perkins-marsh/the-great-question-whether-man-is-of-nature-or-above-her/) [George Perkins Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-perkins-marsh/) > [“And does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce?No, that’s too grand, too considered a process. History just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/and-does-history-repeat-itself-the-first-time-as-tragedy-the-second/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [God does give us the history of his people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-does-give-us-the-history-of-his-people/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. 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I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. 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