Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Lincoln states that fate is fixed and human prayers cannot change destiny.
In plain terms
What is destined to happen will happen regardless of our prayers.
What can you take from it?
Accept that some outcomes are beyond our control.

Where it applies

  • dealing with loss
  • uncertain futures

Putting it to work

  • accept inevitable outcomes

Questions to consider

  • Can prayer change fate?

Another view

This view may diminish the perceived value of prayer.

More from Abraham Lincoln

  1. Well, for those who like that sort of thing, I should think it is just about the sort of thing they would like.

    Permalink to quote #131
  2. When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.

    Permalink to quote #133
  3. To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.

    Permalink to quote #130

Related quotes

  1. Everything that happens is supposed to be And it's all pre-determined, can't change your destiny Guess I'll just keep moving, someday maybe I'll get to where I…

    Conor OberstConor Oberst quote #36
  2. Ask me no more: thy fate and mine are seal'd: I strove against the stream and all in vain: Let the great river take me to the main: No more, dear love, for at …

    Alfred (Lord) TennysonAlfred (Lord) Tennyson quote #141
  3. Chorus: O suitably attired in leather boots Head of a traveller, wherefore seeking whom Whence by what way how purposed art thou come To this well-nightingaled…

    A. E. HousmanA. E. Housman quote #1