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You had better go where Fate leads—
Drift on the Stream of Infinite Flux,
Without joy, without fear:
When you must go—then go.

— Tao Yuanming

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Notes from Wikiquote

Translated by Arthur Waley

Topics

Fate

More quotes by Tao Yuanming

God can only set in motion:
He cannot control the things he has made.

At a single glance I survey the whole Universe.
He will never be happy, whom such pleasures fail to please!

I would gladly wander in Paradise,
But it is far away and there is no road.

I beg you listen to this advice —
When you get wine, be sure to drink it.

The pure air
is cleansed of lingering lees
And mysteriously,
Heaven's realms are high.

All Tao Yuanming quotes →

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.

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We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

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Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan

“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”

Poul Anderson The Corridors of Time (1965)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Tao Yuanming (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.