--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Destiny ... a word which means more than…" description: "\"Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any definitions for. It is a word which can have no meaning in a mechanical universe: if that whic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/t-s-eliot-633_caprice_destiny-a-word-which-means-more-than-we_1594346.jpg" --- # Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any… ![“Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any definitions for. It is a word which can have no meaning in a mechanical universe: if that which is wound up must run down, what destiny is there in that? Destiny is not necessitarianism, and it is not caprice: it is something essentially…” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/t-s-eliot-633_caprice_destiny-a-word-which-means-more-than-we_1594346.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/t-s-eliot-633_caprice_destiny-a-word-which-means-more-than-we_1594346.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/416/t-s-eliot-633_caprice_destiny-a-word-which-means-more-than-we_1594346.jpg) > “Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any definitions for. It is a word which can have no meaning in a mechanical universe: if that which is wound up must run down, what destiny is there in that? Destiny is not necessitarianism, and it is not caprice: it is something essentially meaningful. Each man has his destiny, though some men are undoubtedly "men of destiny" in a sense in which most men are not.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Destiny is a meaningful, non‑mechanical force beyond deterministic or random forces. **In simple terms:** Destiny is meaningful, not just fate or randomness. Key Takeaway Recognize personal purpose beyond determinism. Themes purpose meaning free will Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career choices - creative projects - life planning Key Concepts existentialism philosophy theology Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel your life follows a predetermined path? - How does belief in destiny affect your decisions? A Different Perspective Deterministic views may conflict with belief in destiny. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caprice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caprice/) [Definitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitions/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Destiny Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny-destiny/) [Destiny Necessitarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny-necessitarianism-6049642/) [Destiny Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny-word-6049643/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Man Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-destiny/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-destiny-1356244/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [So we've moved from an era when women's biology was women's destiny to today, which is an era in which men's biology is men's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/so-we-ve-moved-from-an-era-when-women-s-biology-was-women-s-destiny/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [Alas, poor men, their destiny. When all goes well a shadow will overthrow it. If it be unkind one stroke of a wet sponge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/alas-poor-men-their-destiny-when-all-goes-well-a-shadow-will/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“Action, and not knowledge, is man's destiny and duty in this life; and his highest principles, both in philosophy and in religion, have reference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-longueville-mansel/action-and-not-knowledge-is-man-s-destiny-and-duty-in-this-life-and/) [Henry Longueville Mansel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-longueville-mansel/) > [It was from this experience came his oft-repeated belief that every man has but one destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-puzo/it-was-from-this-experience-came-his-oft-repeated-belief-that-every/) [Mario Puzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-puzo/) > [“Every man has but one destiny”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-puzo/every-man-has-but-one-destiny/) [Mario Puzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-puzo/) > [I feel that I am a man of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/i-feel-that-i-am-a-man-of-destiny/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Patience is the courage of the conqueror, the strength of man against destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/patience-is-the-courage-of-the-conqueror-the-strength-of-man-against/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is man's destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a byproduct of his wonderment, to create a new life on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/it-is-man-s-destiny-to-ponder-on-the-riddle-of-existence-and-as-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [The saints thus receive qualities that are forbidden to man, and these qualities are owed precisely to the fact that man is capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/the-saints-thus-receive-qualities-that-are-forbidden-to-man-and-these/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [“A man’s destiny is not in the eyes of others. It’s in his own. And that, my young friend, is as good as any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-evison/a-man-s-destiny-is-not-in-the-eyes-of-others-it-s-in-his-own-and-that/) [Jonathan Evison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-evison/) > [What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-do-i-know-of-man-s-destiny-i-could-tell-you-more-about-radishes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Each man's destiny is hung like a medallion around his neck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-le-gai-eaton/each-man-s-destiny-is-hung-like-a-medallion-around-his-neck/) [Charles le Gai Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-le-gai-eaton/) > [Man's destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/man-s-destiny-is-nowhere-spelled-out-nor-is-his-duty/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [Man's destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he's done.. almost. He hasn't quite made it, and it looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/man-s-destiny-was-to-conquer-and-rule-the-world-and-this-is-what-he-s/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [My surname certainly suggests a man whose destiny has always been injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/my-surname-certainly-suggests-a-man-whose-destiny-has-always-been/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, But the faith and the love and the hope are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/for-love-would-be-love-of-the-wrong-thing-there-is-yet-faith-but-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We must always take risks. That is our destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-must-always-take-risks-that-is-our-destiny/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/all-significant-truths-are-private-truths-as-they-become-public-they/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## More Caprice quotes > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/talent-and-intelligence-never-yet-inoculated-anyone-against-the/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [Our fascination with weather: its caprices and changes as an antidote to the eternal repetition of daily life; a helpful illusion of novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/our-fascination-with-weather-its-caprices-and-changes-as-an-antidote/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [I see nothing quite conclusive in the art of temporal government, But violence, duplicity and frequent malversation. King rules or barons rule: The strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/i-see-nothing-quite-conclusive-in-the-art-of-temporal-government-but/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [A caprice is handled like a stew, and the pepper is added at the last minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/a-caprice-is-handled-like-a-stew-and-the-pepper-is-added-at-the-last/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [When faced with demanding situations, can you keep your heart as light as a feather? Can you laugh your way through challenges and maintain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/when-faced-with-demanding-situations-can-you-keep-your-heart-as-light/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Travel is a caprice in childhood, a passion in youth, a necessity in manhood, and an elegy in old age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-rizal/travel-is-a-caprice-in-childhood-a-passion-in-youth-a-necessity-in/) [Jose Rizal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-rizal/) > [Broken lines do not know what they want. With their caprices they cut time up, abuse routes, slash the joyous flowers and split the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-crevel/broken-lines-do-not-know-what-they-want-with-their-caprices-they-cut/) [Rene Crevel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-crevel/) > [Dame Edna is that rarest sighting in our time of the absolute comic, an inspired personification of caprice whose comedy answered the primal call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/dame-edna-is-that-rarest-sighting-in-our-time-of-the-absolute-comic/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [The great merit of gold is precisely that it is scarce; that its quantity is limited by nature; that it is costly to discover,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-great-merit-of-gold-is-precisely-that-it-is-scarce-that-its/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [Caprice, independence and rebellion, which are opposed to the social order, are essential to the good health of an ethnic group. We shall measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/caprice-independence-and-rebellion-which-are-opposed-to-the-social/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) > [Caprice in women often infringes upon the rules of decency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/caprice-in-women-often-infringes-upon-the-rules-of-decency/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [I love you boosie baltimore m.d caprice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-boosie/i-love-you-boosie-baltimore-m-d-caprice/) [Lil Boosie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-boosie/) > [Caprice is half man. There is something manly about her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bacon/caprice-is-half-man-there-is-something-manly-about-her/) [Richard Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bacon/) > [For the writer, the serial killer is, abstractly, an analogue of the imagination's caprices and amorality; the sense that, no matter the dictates and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/for-the-writer-the-serial-killer-is-abstractly-an-analogue-of-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Browse all 110 Caprice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caprice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Destiny ... a word which means more than we can find any definitions for. It is a word which can have no meaning in a mechanical universe: if that which is wound up must run down, what destiny is there in that? 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