“The thing about fate, Magnus: even if we can't change the big picture, our choices can alter the details. That's how we rebel against destiny, how we make our mark. What will you choose to do?”

“If it is our destiny to be hit by the train, we will be hit by the train. The only thing we can change is how the train turns us into a hamburger.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

“The little things, I can obey. The big things—how we think, what we value—those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone—or any society—determine those for you.”

Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie

“No choice we can make as a nation lies between our history and our geography. We can hardly change either of them. They are immutable. The only choice we can make as a nation is the choice about our future.”

Paul Keating (1944) Australian politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia

“The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes — and we must.”

Jimmy Carter (1924) American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981)

“We create our own destiny by the way we do things. We have to take advantage of opportunities and be responsible for our choices.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

“We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.”

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) Swedish diplomat, economist, and author

“We can't think of changing our skin color. Change the world - that's how we gotta think.”

Sue Monk Kidd book The Secret Life of Bees

“That’s what you taught me - we don’t have to accept destiny or Des Tiny. We can create our own future, all of us. We have the power to rule our lives - we just have to make the choice to use it.”

Darren Shan book Sons of Destiny

“We all choose our own teachers, don't we? I wonder if our choice of teacher shows anything about what our lives will be.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist