Destiny, also known as fate, comes from the Latin word fatum, which means "decree, prediction, destiny, or fate." It refers to events that are decided before they happen. Destiny can be thought of as a planned future, whether for everyone or for a specific person.

Fate

Although the words "fate" and "destiny" are often used together, they have different meanings. The earliest known mention of these ideas appears on an ancient Sumerian document written in cuneiform script. This document refers to the "Tablet of Destinies," which likely describes a political agreement between three groups of Sumerian gods. According to this agreement, only a leader could restore things to their original state.

Traditionally, "fate" is described as a force or being that decides events before they happen. It suggests that events are set in a way that cannot be changed. This idea is based on the belief that the universe follows a fixed, natural order.

In classical and European myths, "fate" is shown as being controlled by personified figures. In Greek mythology, these figures are called the Moirai. In Roman mythology, they are known as the Parcae. In Norse mythology, they are called the Norns. These figures spin threads that represent the lives of individuals, determining the events of the world.

"Fate" refers to the future, which cannot be changed by the choices people make. "Destiny," however, refers to the present, shaped by the decisions people have already made.

"Fatalism" is the belief that events decided by fate cannot be changed by any human actions. This means people cannot alter their own fates or the fates of others.

Fortune

Fortune is different from fate and destiny. It can mean chance or luck, such as when something happens by luck, or it can describe an event or group of events that help or harm a person or group. It is also used in phrases like "to tell someone's fortune," which means predicting the future, or simply the result of chance and events. In Hellenistic civilization, unpredictable events made people pay more attention to a goddess named Tyche, who represented the good luck of a city and all people who lived there. Tyche was linked to a city's safety and success, qualities that seemed difficult for humans to control. The Roman image of Fortuna, who turned a wheel without seeing where it would stop, was described by Christian writers like Boethius. This idea was popular again during the Renaissance and is still seen today in some ways.

Western philosophy

Philosophy about the ideas of destiny and fate began during the Hellenistic period, with groups like the Stoics and the Epicureans.

The Stoics believed that human choices and actions followed a plan made by a god. They stated that even though humans have free will, their souls and the situations they experience are part of a larger system of fate.

The Epicureans disagreed with the Stoics by saying that a divine plan did not exist. They believed that humans could make choices freely as long as they acted with reason.

In everyday language, destiny and fate are often used as synonyms. However, in 19th-century philosophy, these words took on very different meanings.

For Arthur Schopenhauer, destiny was an expression of the Will to Live, which could involve both accepting fate and making choices to overcome it through art, morality, and self-discipline.

For Friedrich Nietzsche, destiny was connected to the idea of Amor fati (Love of Fate), which was linked to his philosophy of the "will to power" (der Wille zur Macht). This concept, which influenced human behavior, was inspired by Schopenhauer’s Will to Live. Nietzsche saw the will to power as a key force for adaptation and survival. He changed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power, which he described as humanity’s destiny to face with Amor fati. Nietzsche used the term Amor fati repeatedly to describe accepting and choosing one’s fate, which became a form of choosing one’s destiny.

Determinism is a philosophical idea often confused with fate. It means that all actions and decisions are caused by past events and situations. In simple terms, everything that happens is the result of what has already occurred. Determinism is different from fate because it is not based on spiritual, religious, or astrological beliefs. Fate is usually seen as something given or decided, while determinism is based on causes. Important philosophers such as Robert Kane, Thomas Nagel, Roderick Chisholm, and A. J. Ayer have written about this idea.

Eastern Philosophy

Ming yun (Chinese: 命運) is a concept in Chinese folk religion that describes how people live their lives and what happens to them. The word "ming" means "life," "right," or "destiny," while "yun" means "circumstance" or "individual choice." The term "ming" is believed to be given and influenced by Tian, or "Heaven," similar to the idea of the Mandate of Heaven described by the philosopher Mencius. Ming yun is seen as something that is both fixed, meaning it cannot be changed, and flexible, meaning it can be shaped by choices and circumstances.

Psychology

Among important figures in the depth psychology movement, Carl Gustav Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Leopold Szondi made significant contributions to the study of the idea of "fate."

Religion

The idea of destiny, fate, or causation is important in many religions, but each religion explains it differently:

• The ancient Sumerians believed that gods decided a person’s future before birth.
• In Babylonian religion, the god Nabu, who was the god of writing, wrote down the fates that humans would have. These fates were decided by the gods of the Assyro-Babylonian group of gods, including the Anunnaki.
• In Ancient Greek religion, people believed that the Moirai (the Fates) and gods like Zeus were responsible for deciding and carrying out destiny.
• Some Christians believe that people can choose their own actions, while others believe that God has already decided everything that will happen.
• In Islam, fate or qadar is God’s decision about everything.
• In Buddhism, all events (including thoughts and actions) are taught to happen because of previous events, following a universal rule called paṭiccasamuppāda. This teaching is shared by all schools of Buddhism and helps explain other important ideas, such as impermanence and non-self, which are also common to all Buddhist schools.

Politics

Politicians often use metaphors to describe events that are difficult to explain. Otto Von Bismarck once said that the best a politician can do is to "listen for God's footsteps and hang on to His coat tails." General José de San Martín, known as the Libertador of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, famously stated, "You will be what you must be, or you will be nothing." In his book War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy wrote about the "unconscious swarm-life of mankind," while Shakespeare used the phrase "a tide in the affairs of men" in his play Julius Caesar.

Literature

In ancient Greece, many stories show that trying to avoid a fate that has been clearly foretold is useless. This idea appears in works like Oedipus Rex (427 BCE), the Iliad, the Odyssey (800 BCE), and Theogony. In ancient China, the concept of fate also appears in writings such as Liezi, Mengzi, and Zhuangzi. In Italy, the Spanish Duque de Rivas' play, which Giuseppe Verdi later adapted into La Forza del Destino ("The Force of Destiny"), includes similar ideas about fate.

In England, fate is a major theme in works like Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606), Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), Samuel Beckett's Endgame (1957), and W.W. Jacobs' short story The Monkey's Paw (1902). In America, Thornton Wilder's book The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) explores the idea of fate.

In Germany, fate is a common theme in the works of Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), including Siddharta (1922) and Das Glasperlenspiel, also known as The Glass Bead Game (1943). Hollywood also portrays fate through characters like Neo in The Matrix. A shared idea in these works is that a main character cannot escape their destiny, no matter how hard they try. In Neil Gaiman's graphic novel The Sandman, destiny is shown as one of the Endless, a blind figure who carries a book that holds all past and future events: "Destiny is the oldest of the Endless; in the Beginning was the Word, and it was traced by hand on the first page of his book, before ever it was spoken aloud."

Fate is a common theme in the stories and poems of Jorge Luis Borges. In The Garden of Forking Paths, destiny is shown as a maze of choices, where all possibilities exist at the same time. The story ends with the character realizing that their actions were already decided, leading to an unavoidable ending. In The Lottery in Babylon, a secret lottery determines every part of life, making personal choices unimportant. In Ajedrez, chess pieces move according to fixed rules, showing how humans follow a path already decided by an unseen force.

Many of Borges' stories also explore the idea of a destined death. In Poema conjetural, a significant figure in Argentine history, who dreamed of a peaceful and respected life and death, is hunted and killed by "savages." Instead of grieving, he dies happily, accepting his South American destiny. In The South, a man in a hospital imagines a heroic death, where he is killed in a duel with a gaucho.