“Only to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all.”

— Marcus Aurelius , book Meditations

Source: Meditations (c. AD 121–180), Book X, 28

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Marcus Aurelius 400

Emperor of Ancient Rome 121–180

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“Only to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

X, 28
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book X
Context: Only to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all.

“If the transmigration of a soul takes place into a rational being, it simply becomes the soul of that body. But if the soul migrates into a brute beast, it follows the body outside, as a guardian spirit follows a man. For there could never be a rational soul in an irrational being.”

Sallustius Roman philosopher and writer

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“In general, people only ask for advice that they may not follow it; or, if they should follow it, that they may have somebody to blame for having given it.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Variant: As a general rule... people ask for advice only in order not to follow it; or if they do follow it, in order to have someone to blame for giving it.
Source: The Three Musketeers

“Mathematics became an experimental subject. Individuals could follow previously intractable problems by simply watching what happened when they were programmed into a personal computer.”

John D. Barrow (1952–2020) British scientist

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“Of course it was cause and effect, but in the necessity with which follows the other lay all tragedy of life.”

W. Somerset Maugham book Of Human Bondage

Source: Of Human Bondage (1915), Ch. 65

“I’ve no regrets in my personal and professional life. Being a spiritual person, I believe whatever happens, happens for the good. I simply follow what dad says, ‘With music, you can reach out and spread happiness.”

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“Copying nature — what is that supposed to mean? Follow the masters! But why should one follow them? The only reason they are masters is that they didn't follow anybody!”

Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French Post-Impressionist artist

Source: 1890s - 1910s, The Writings of a Savage (1996), p. 108: cited by Eugène Tardieu, 'Interview with Paul Gauguin,' in L'Écho de Paris, (13 May 1895)

“But he had hardly felt the absurdity of those things, on the one hand, and the necessity of those others, on the other (for it is rare that the feeling of absurdity is not followed by the feeling of necessity), when he felt the absurdity of those things of which he had just felt the necessity (for it is rare that the feeling of necessity is not followed by the feeling of absurdity).”

Samuel Beckett book Watt

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“It is the historical necessity, if there is a historical necessity in history, that a new decade of electronic television should follow to the past decade of electronic music.”

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Nam June Paik (1965), as cited in: David Dunn, " A History of Electronic Music Pioneers http://vasulka.org/Kitchen/PDF_Eigenwelt/pdf/021-062.pdf." ders.(Hrsg.), Eigenwelt der Apparate-Welt.(Katalog), Linz (1992): 21-62.
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“Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.”

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love

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“Only to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all.”

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