{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will", "heading": "Quotes about free will", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will.md", "quotes_count": 67, "authors_count": 50, "parent": { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom", "heading": "Quotes about freedom" }, "children": [], "quotes": [ { "id": "c9bef107-fa51-4857-9700-75b574036ea5", "slug": "feelings-like-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/1q84/feelings-like-that", "text": "“Feelings like that don’t give you any choice, do they?” Aomame said. “They come at you whenever they want to. It’s not like choosing food from a menu.” “It is in one way: you have regrets after you make a mistake.” They shared a laugh. Aomame said, “It’s the same with menus and men and just about anything else: we think we’re choosing things for ourselves, but in fact we may not be choosing anything. It could be that everything’s decided in advance and we pretend we’re making choices. Free will may be an illusion. I often think that.” “If that’s true, life is pretty dark.” “Maybe so.” “But if you can love someone with your whole heart—even if he’s a terrible person and even if he doesn’t love you back—life is not a hell, at least, though it might be kind of dark. Is that what you’re saying?” Ayumi asked. “Exactly.” “But still,” Ayumi said, “it seems to me that this world has a serious shortage of both logic and kindness.” “You may be right,” Aomame said. “But it’s too late to traded in for another one.” “The exchange window expired a long time ago,” Ayumi said. “And the receipt’s been thrown away.” “You said it.” “Oh, well, no problem,” Aomame said. “The world’s going to end before we know it.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Haruki Murakami", "slug": "haruki-murakami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami" }, "book": { "title": "1Q84", "slug": "1q84", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/1q84" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 241, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/1Q84#Book_1_(April-June)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:38" }, { "id": "9c3db5ac-11e7-40df-804e-f730a60e9603", "slug": "you-dont-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-mattis/call-sign-chaos/you-dont-always", "text": "You don't always control your circumstances, but you can always control your response.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jim Mattis", "slug": "jim-mattis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-mattis" }, "book": { "title": "Call Sign Chaos", "slug": "call-sign-chaos", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-mattis/call-sign-chaos" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 6, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "self-discipline", "slug": "self-discipline", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-discipline" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jim_Mattis#Call_Sign_Chaos:_Learning_to_Lead_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:22" }, { "id": "b5c7c13f-881d-40f2-916f-ffb5348e471f", "slug": "freedom-felt-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-tregillis/the-mechanical/freedom-felt-like", "text": "Freedom felt like… nothing. Free Will was a vacuum, a negative space. It was the absence of coercion, the absence of compulsion, the absence of agony. A gap in his consciousness where geasa had perpetually jostled for priority, demanding his obedience. It was the photographic negative of Jax’s existence during every minute of the 118 years since he’d been forged. It was overwhelming. Exhilarating. Terrifying. Overwhelming: he could do anything he wanted. But the grand sum of anything-at-all was nothing-at-all. The topology of freedom offered no gradients to nudge him, no landmarks to guide him. How did humans guide themselves? How did they know what to do and what not to do? How did they know when to do anything without the benefit of geasa and metageasa to prioritize every single action of their waking lives? How did they order their daily existence without somebody to tell them what to do?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ian Tregillis", "slug": "ian-tregillis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-tregillis" }, "book": { "title": "The Mechanical", "slug": "the-mechanical", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-tregillis/the-mechanical" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Tregillis#The_Mechanical_(2015)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:18" }, { "id": "cfd8744c-6f51-451a-a2fc-402dd1923c3d", "slug": "if-human-beings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-friedman/the-next-100-years/if-human-beings", "text": "If human beings can simply decide on what they want to do and then do it, then forecasting is impossible. Free will is beyond forecasting. But what is most interesting about humans is how unfree they are. It is possible for people today to have ten children, but hardly anyone does. We are deeply constrained in what we do by the time and place in which we live.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Friedman", "slug": "george-friedman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-friedman" }, "book": { "title": "The Next 100 Years", "slug": "the-next-100-years", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-friedman/the-next-100-years" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 252, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Friedman#The_Next_100_Years:_A_Forecast_for_the_21st_Century_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:47" }, { "id": "646d8caf-6a08-4fae-8356-617711744ce1", "slug": "in-the-game", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows/in-the-game", "text": "In the game of thrones, even the humblest pieces can have wills of their own. Sometimes they refuse to make the moves you've planned for them. Mark that well, Alayne. It's a lesson that Cersei Lannister still has yet to learn.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Feast for Crows", "slug": "a-feast-for-crows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "manipulation", "slug": "manipulation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Feast_for_Crows_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:53" }, { "id": "1eaf63fc-5a96-4c81-8f5d-682f269f6c65", "slug": "a-true-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-game-of-thrones-the-illustrated-edition/a-true-man", "text": "A true man does what he will, not what he must.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Game of Thrones: The Illustrated Edition", "slug": "a-game-of-thrones-the-illustrated-edition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-game-of-thrones-the-illustrated-edition" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Game_of_Thrones_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:46" }, { "id": "f79ce7f6-c07d-414f-83b5-0c0eacf03859", "slug": "predestination-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-varley/millennium/predestination-is-the", "text": "Predestination is the ugliest word in any human language.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Varley", "slug": "john-varley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-varley" }, "book": { "title": "Millennium", "slug": "millennium", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-varley/millennium" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 113, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Varley#Millennium_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:34" }, { "id": "5c515c53-f608-4881-85ac-6b1bd97af577", "slug": "truly-to-be-free", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/benjamin-r-barber/aristocracy-of-everyone/truly-to-be-free", "text": "Truly to be free, my choices must truly be mine—must accord with the “me” with which I associate my core identity. I must make them in keeping with rational life plans. They cannot be triggered by invisible external or covert influences; they must make manifest a will that is unfettered yet rationally informed by life plans.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Benjamin R. Barber", "slug": "benjamin-r-barber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/benjamin-r-barber" }, "book": { "title": "Aristocracy of Everyone", "slug": "aristocracy-of-everyone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/benjamin-r-barber/aristocracy-of-everyone" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Barber#An_Aristocracy_of_Everyone_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:17" }, { "id": "a1e833f4-dac6-4c71-9ecb-ebf8d7788e7f", "slug": "if-they-were", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/connie-willis/to-say-nothing-of-the-dog/if-they-were", "text": "If they were part of the self-correction (i. e., of the space-time continuum) what did that do to the notion of free will? Or was free will part of the plan as well?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Connie Willis", "slug": "connie-willis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/connie-willis" }, "book": { "title": "To Say Nothing of the Dog", "slug": "to-say-nothing-of-the-dog", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/connie-willis/to-say-nothing-of-the-dog" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 479, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Connie_Willis#To_Say_Nothing_of_the_Dog_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:12" }, { "id": "129f132c-be87-4b1e-a85b-ce08d155fbbe", "slug": "e-conomics-can-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/economics-the-users-guide/e-conomics-can-never", "text": "[E]conomics can never be a science in the sense that physics or chemistry is. There are many different types of economic theory, each emphasizing different aspects of a complex reality, making different moral and political value judgments and drawing different conclusions. ...[E]conomic theories constantly fail to predict real-world developments... not least because human beings have... free will, unlike chemical molecules or [other] physical objects.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Economics: The User's Guide", "slug": "economics-the-users-guide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/economics-the-users-guide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "science", "slug": "science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Prologue._Why_Bother%3F_Why_do_You_Need_to_Learn_Economics%3F", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "124e145f-5f8f-4728-9ef8-71fd657008f7", "slug": "good-intentions-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin/the-broken-kingdoms/good-intentions-are", "text": "Good intentions are pointless without the will to implement them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "N. K. Jemisin", "slug": "n-k-jemisin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin" }, "book": { "title": "The Broken Kingdoms", "slug": "the-broken-kingdoms", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/n-k-jemisin/the-broken-kingdoms" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 281, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "taking action", "slug": "taking-action", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/N._K._Jemisin#The_Broken_Kingdoms_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:49" }, { "id": "126d791a-2fb5-4e90-b516-63d8e6509c23", "slug": "its-the-choosing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lois-lowry/the-giver/its-the-choosing", "text": "It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lois Lowry", "slug": "lois-lowry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lois-lowry" }, "book": { "title": "The Giver", "slug": "the-giver", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lois-lowry/the-giver" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 98, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "choices", "slug": "choices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Giver#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:42" }, { "id": "928e520d-dbe1-4f7f-b96f-654915127175", "slug": "no-exercise-of-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/no-exercise-of-will", "text": "No exercise of will can make any of us other than what we are, or more than marginally better than who we are.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Blish", "slug": "james-blish", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish" }, "book": { "title": "The Quincunx of Time", "slug": "the-quincunx-of-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 118, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "character", "slug": "character", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/character" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Blish#The_Quincunx_of_Time_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:35" }, { "id": "44d82c44-49a2-4e5b-9b6b-d025da48812c", "slug": "actually-there-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/actually-there-are", "text": "Actually, there are never motives behind actions. All actions are fixed. What we call motives evidently are rationalizations by the helpless observing consciousness, which is intelligent enough to smell an event coming—and, since it cannot avert the event, instead cooks up reasons for wanting it to happen...or ascribes it to the malice of God or man.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Blish", "slug": "james-blish", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish" }, "book": { "title": "The Quincunx of Time", "slug": "the-quincunx-of-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 84, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Blish#The_Quincunx_of_Time_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:35" }, { "id": "1799a777-e74a-4adf-83a5-cda38b27e189", "slug": "thats-me-he-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-bester/the-stars-my-destination/thats-me-he-said", "text": "“That’s me,” he said, motioning to the robot. “That’s all of us. We prattle about free will, but we’re nothing but response...mechanical reaction in prescribed grooves.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alfred Bester", "slug": "alfred-bester", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-bester" }, "book": { "title": "The Stars My Destination", "slug": "the-stars-my-destination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-bester/the-stars-my-destination" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 247, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Bester#The_Stars_My_Destination_(1956)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:24" }, { "id": "ca047639-d711-4700-be6a-e68854223134", "slug": "i-just-havent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar/i-just-havent", "text": "I just haven’t been conditioned into thinking that the right answer can’t be a simple one. When I told you you’d been contaminated I meant by that attitude, which is wider-spread than the common cold and just as undermining. Did nobody ever point out to you that the only liberty implied by free will is the opportunity to be wrong?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Brunner", "slug": "john-brunner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner" }, "book": { "title": "Stand On Zanzibar", "slug": "stand-on-zanzibar", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "mistakes", "slug": "mistakes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner#Stand_on_Zanzibar_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:10" }, { "id": "55e36000-b20f-480b-b861-45d29ad9b60d", "slug": "my-message-to-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/exhalation/my-message-to-you", "text": "My message to you is this: pretend that you have free will. It’s essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don’t. The reality isn’t important: what’s important is your belief, and believing the lie is the only way to avoid a waking coma. Civilization now depends on self-deception. Perhaps it always has.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ted Chiang", "slug": "ted-chiang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang" }, "book": { "title": "Exhalation", "slug": "exhalation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/exhalation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 60, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "self-deception", "slug": "self-deception-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-deception-2" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Chiang#Exhalation:_Stories_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:58" }, { "id": "c8784705-de37-4e76-881b-7e01037396dd", "slug": "what-made-it-possible", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others/what-made-it-possible", "text": "What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it impossible to know the future. Conversely, now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future. [...] Those who've read the Book of Ages never admit to it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ted Chiang", "slug": "ted-chiang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang" }, "book": { "title": "Stories of Your Life and Others", "slug": "stories-of-your-life-and-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the future", "slug": "the-future", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Chiang#Stories_of_Your_Life_and_Others_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:57" }, { "id": "ef0f1b80-47ed-4c19-badd-712c57b93205", "slug": "tennyson-follows-his", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-fenton/an-introduction-to-english-poetry/tennyson-follows-his", "text": "Tennyson follows his feelings in creating each line. He follows the music in his head. If you had asked him, at the end of the day, to describe the prosody of the poem to you, he would no doubt have had to think for a moment before he could answer you, not because he was ignorant of the terms, but because he had been writing a poem, not a metrical exercise. At every point, he was exerting his free will. And the outcome of that exertion was the form.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Fenton", "slug": "james-fenton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-fenton" }, "book": { "title": "An Introduction to English Poetry", "slug": "an-introduction-to-english-poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-fenton/an-introduction-to-english-poetry" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 24, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Fenton#An_Introduction_to_English_Poetry_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:32" }, { "id": "27dc2411-d05c-475b-9f12-9ae3c690c30e", "slug": "waterhouse-now-if-you-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/quicksilver/waterhouse-now-if-you-the", "text": "Waterhouse: \"Now, if you--the ingenious Dr. Leibniz--contrive a machine that gives the impression of thinking--is that really thinking, or merely reflecting your genius?\" Leibniz: \"You could as well have asked: are we thinking? Or merely reflecting God's genius?\" Waterhouse: \"If we are mere mechanisms, obeying rules laid down by God, then all of our actions are predestined, and we are not really thinking.\" Leibniz: \"This is one of the two great labryrinths into which human minds are drawn: the question of free will versus predestination. You were raised to believe in the latter. You have rejected it--which must have been a great spiritual struggle--and become a thinker. You have adopted a modern, mechanical philosophy. But that philosophy now seems to be leading you back towards predestination.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neal Stephenson", "slug": "neal-stephenson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson" }, "book": { "title": "Quicksilver", "slug": "quicksilver", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/quicksilver" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle#Book_One:_Quicksilver", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:31" }, { "id": "982ee353-a118-4d3f-b5b4-e3aed6f2e637", "slug": "free-will-again", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/timescape/free-will-again", "text": "“Free will again,” Cathy said. “Or free won’t,” Peterson said mildly.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "Timescape", "slug": "timescape", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/timescape" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 291, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#Timescape_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:22" }, { "id": "dff72bf5-b0ae-4b95-982c-8aab0670caab", "slug": "lancelet-said-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marion-zimmer-bradley/the-mists-of-avalon/lancelet-said-and", "text": "Lancelet said, “And I must believe that man has the power to know the right, to choose between good and evil and know that his choice has made a difference…”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marion Zimmer Bradley", "slug": "marion-zimmer-bradley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marion-zimmer-bradley" }, "book": { "title": "The Mists of Avalon", "slug": "the-mists-of-avalon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marion-zimmer-bradley/the-mists-of-avalon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley#The_Mists_of_Avalon_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:45" }, { "id": "07685555-946f-4e96-8a9e-d0d4b56f2bdd", "slug": "you-are-fettered", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/you-are-fettered", "text": "\"You are fettered,\" said Scrooge, trembling. \"Tell me why?\" \"I wear the chain I forged in life,\" replied the Ghost. \"I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?\" Scrooge trembled more and more. \"Or would you know,\" pursued the Ghost, \"the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it since. It is a ponderous chain!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_1:_Marley's_Ghost", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:44" }, { "id": "7014accb-7077-4f4c-8adb-fd6669823bd6", "slug": "what-work-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3/what-work-have", "text": "“What work have I got to do, then?” said Will, but went on at once, “No, on second thought, don’t tell me. I shall decide what I do. If you say my work is fighting, or healing, or exploring, or whatever you might say, I'll always be thinking about it. And if I do end up doing that, I'll be resentful because it’ll feel as if I didn’t have a choice, and if I don’t do it, I'll feel guilty because I should. Whatever I do, I will choose it, no one else.” “Then you have already taken the first steps toward wisdom,” said Xaphania.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials 3", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wisdom", "slug": "wisdom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wisdom" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "1b89e47c-7708-4af7-920f-19bbe39de15a", "slug": "you-said-i-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3/you-said-i-was", "text": "You said I was a warrior. You told me that was my nature, and I shouldn’t argue with it. Father, you were wrong. I fought because I had to. I can’t choose my nature, but I can choose what I do. And I will choose, because now I'm free.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials 3", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "bd5d1590-6f55-4507-b245-4ac97552aec3", "slug": "how-many-shots", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/irvine-welsh/trainspotting/how-many-shots", "text": "How many shots does it take before the concept ay choice becomes obsolete?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Irvine Welsh", "slug": "irvine-welsh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/irvine-welsh" }, "book": { "title": "Trainspotting", "slug": "trainspotting", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/irvine-welsh/trainspotting" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "addiction", "slug": "addiction-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/addiction-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Irvine_Welsh#Trainspotting_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:33" }, { "id": "a4aa422e-0a8c-497d-a496-b19c63a98549", "slug": "we-live-in-an-infinity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition/we-live-in-an-infinity", "text": "We live in an infinity of infinities, and we reshape our lives with every passing thought and each unconscious action, threading an ever-changing course through the myriad possibilities of existence. I lie here and ponder the events and decisions that led me to this point, the precise sequence of thoughts and actions that ended – for now – with me having nothing more constructive or urgent to do than think about those very eventualities.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "Transition", "slug": "transition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 57, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Transition_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:23" }, { "id": "5ff78a02-93e9-4573-bc6a-f8f4c8ea6af5", "slug": "choice-he-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/against-a-dark-background/choice-he-said", "text": "“Choice,” he said heavily. A small smile disturbed his face. “We all think we have so much of that, don’t we?”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "Against A Dark Background", "slug": "against-a-dark-background", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/against-a-dark-background" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 367, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Against_a_Dark_Background_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:22" }, { "id": "1811d8db-63db-4944-a935-830cbe39858b", "slug": "youre-given-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/a-wrinkle-in-time/youre-given-the", "text": "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "A Wrinkle in Time", "slug": "a-wrinkle-in-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/a-wrinkle-in-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#A_Wrinkle_in_Time_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:08" }, { "id": "b1a794e6-78e5-4bf3-8daf-6ada8d3e3d11", "slug": "we-can-each", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthew-stover/blade-of-tyshalle/we-can-each", "text": "\"We can each sit and wait to die, from the very day of our births. Those of us who do not do so, choose to ask--and to answer--the two questions that define every conscious creature: What do I want? and What will I do to get it? Which are, finally, only one question: What is my will? Caine teaches us that the answer is always found within our own experience; our lives provide the structure of the question, and a properly phrased question contains its own answer.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Matthew Stover", "slug": "matthew-stover", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthew-stover" }, "book": { "title": "Blade of Tyshalle", "slug": "blade-of-tyshalle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthew-stover/blade-of-tyshalle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 472, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "sexual desire", "slug": "sexual-desire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sexual-desire" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Stover#Blade_of_Tyshalle_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:44" }, { "id": "2c9b3c88-77c6-46f3-a2fa-27dc6c71b866", "slug": "the-will-of-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-lowry/under-the-volcano/the-will-of-man", "text": "The will of man is unconquerable. Even God cannot conquer it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Malcolm Lowry", "slug": "malcolm-lowry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-lowry" }, "book": { "title": "Under the Volcano", "slug": "under-the-volcano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/malcolm-lowry/under-the-volcano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 97, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Malcolm_Lowry#Under_the_Volcano_(1947)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:38" }, { "id": "0686944b-cd7c-47df-a5ff-efa5516b04a4", "slug": "perhaps-our-greatest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/why-is-sex-fun/perhaps-our-greatest", "text": "Perhaps our greatest distinction as a species is our capacity, unique among animals, to make counter-evolutionary choices.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jared Diamond", "slug": "jared-diamond", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond" }, "book": { "title": "Why Is Sex Fun?", "slug": "why-is-sex-fun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/why-is-sex-fun" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 62, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evolution", "slug": "evolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evolution" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jared_Diamond#Why_Is_Sex_Fun%3F:_The_Evolution_of_Human_Sexuality_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:06" }, { "id": "6a62205f-44b1-452d-b739-cd009ebe1a81", "slug": "we-are-made", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/six-moon-dance/we-are-made", "text": "We are made of the stuff of stars, given our lives by a living world, given our selves by time. We are brother to the trees and sister to the sun. We are of such glorious stuff we need not carry pain around like a label. Our duty, as living things, to be sure that pain is not our whole story, for we can choose to be otherwise. As Ellin says, we can choose to dance.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Six Moon Dance", "slug": "six-moon-dance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/six-moon-dance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 511, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "the universe", "slug": "the-universe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-universe" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Six_Moon_Dance_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:25" }, { "id": "e4dd0132-9fb0-45e6-83f5-da6c0cbee0c7", "slug": "i-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/dervish-daughter/i-do-not", "text": "“I do not like the thought of compulsion.” He shook his head at me. “Not compulsion, Jinian. Information, more like. It is as though I had been given a map which showed both the good roads and the swamps. Is it compulsion to avoid the swamps if one knows they are there?”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Dervish Daughter", "slug": "dervish-daughter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/dervish-daughter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 42, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Dervish_Daughter_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:19" }, { "id": "fff3bd65-a56b-4f5d-8279-e8683b18088b", "slug": "a-pet-in-pets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/mind-of-my-mind/a-pet-in-pets", "text": "A pet. In pets, free will was tolerated only as long as the pet owner found it amusing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Octavia E. Butler", "slug": "octavia-e-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Mind of My Mind", "slug": "mind-of-my-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/mind-of-my-mind" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 344, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler#Mind_of_My_Mind_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:08" }, { "id": "ca5c9771-0627-41e5-88c3-08b306085c59", "slug": "the-human-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh/the-human-will", "text": "The human will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless soul, Can hew the way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Allen", "slug": "james-allen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen" }, "book": { "title": "As a Man Thinketh", "slug": "as-a-man-thinketh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen#Effect_of_Thought_on_Circumstances", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:08" }, { "id": "a83a8e7c-b144-453c-8080-cb47a733b8c6", "slug": "mind-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh/mind-is-the", "text": "Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: — He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Allen", "slug": "james-allen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen" }, "book": { "title": "As a Man Thinketh", "slug": "as-a-man-thinketh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen#As_A_Man_Thinketh_(1902)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:08" }, { "id": "61d99537-3541-47bf-bf60-ee5adfbe17a3", "slug": "the-world-is-your", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh/the-world-is-your", "text": "The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colours, which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.So you will be, what you \"will\" to be. Let failure find its false content, In that poor word \"environment,\" But spirit scorns it and is free.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Allen", "slug": "james-allen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen" }, "book": { "title": "As a Man Thinketh", "slug": "as-a-man-thinketh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen#Effect_of_Thought_on_Circumstances", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:08" }, { "id": "e9049c45-819e-4675-9625-4da6a7877816", "slug": "free-will-is-an-illusion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-sawyer/flashforward/free-will-is-an-illusion", "text": "Free will is an illusion. It is synonymous with incomplete perception.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert J Sawyer", "slug": "robert-j-sawyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-sawyer" }, "book": { "title": "FlashForward", "slug": "flashforward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-sawyer/flashforward" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 123, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_J._Sawyer#Flashforward_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:58" }, { "id": "32024048-fcad-4eb3-a4e7-5b8b06d85792", "slug": "the-same-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/invisible-monsters/the-same-way", "text": "The same way a compact disk isn't responsible for what's recorded on it, that's how we are. You're about as free to act as a programmed computer. You're about as one-of-a-kind as a dollar bill.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Invisible Monsters", "slug": "invisible-monsters", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/invisible-monsters" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Invisible_Monsters#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:48" }, { "id": "e04e80cb-8517-41e9-9fdb-af8dabe37bec", "slug": "if-all-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet/if-all-human", "text": "If all human events possess purpose, then all human deeds possess purpose. And yet when men vie with men, the purpose of no man comes to fruition: the result always falls somewhere in between. The purpose of deeds, then, cannot derive from the purposes of men, because all men vie with all men. This means the deeds of men must be willed by something other than men. From this it follows that we are all slaves. Who then is our Master?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "R. Scott Bakker", "slug": "r-scott-bakker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker" }, "book": { "title": "The Warrior-Prophet", "slug": "the-warrior-prophet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Warrior_Prophet#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:29" }, { "id": "d8aadb00-f2a6-46fe-83e5-e73535cdb968", "slug": "she-hated-everything", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/witches-abroad/she-hated-everything", "text": "She hated everything that predestined people, that fooled them, that made them slightly less than human. (p. 291)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Witches Abroad", "slug": "witches-abroad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/witches-abroad" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Witches_Abroad#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:58" }, { "id": "d24d15b7-d207-4048-95ac-c4b40d96bda0", "slug": "if-i-hadnt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five/if-i-hadnt", "text": "\"If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings,\" said the Tralfamadorian, \"I wouldn’t have any idea what was meant by 'free will.' I've visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe, and I have studied reports on one hundred more. Only on Earth is there any talk of free will.\" (p. 86)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Slaughterhouse-Five", "slug": "slaughterhouse-five", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five#Chapter_4", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:45" }, { "id": "6fae7f2b-900b-49bb-9810-85c42d2ab660", "slug": "what-does-it-matter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/children-of-the-mind/what-does-it-matter", "text": "What does it matter, to tell yourself that the thing controlling you comes from outside, if in fact you only experience it inside your own heart? Where can you run from it? How can you hide?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Children Of The Mind", "slug": "children-of-the-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/children-of-the-mind" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Mind#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:45" }, { "id": "7c56eba4-7380-42d8-92cb-a223f946feef", "slug": "if-you-think", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/xenocide/if-you-think", "text": "If you think that everybody around you is a puppet, why bother talking to them at all? Why even try to plan anything or create anything, since everything you plan or create or desire or dream of is just acting out the script your puppeteer built into you?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Xenocide", "slug": "xenocide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/xenocide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Xenocide#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:44" }, { "id": "2d4ad76f-861a-4319-8932-4d7d63313435", "slug": "where-choice-begins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/after-the-fall/where-choice-begins", "text": "Where choice begins, Paradise ends, innocence ends, for what is Paradise but the absence of any need to choose this action?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur Miller", "slug": "arthur-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller" }, "book": { "title": "After the Fall", "slug": "after-the-fall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/after-the-fall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "innocence", "slug": "innocence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller#After_the_Fall_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:24" }, { "id": "44cf5b0e-2626-4e34-95d3-ce8b0edd88cc", "slug": "to-know-there", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/four-ways-to-forgiveness/to-know-there", "text": "To know there is a choice is to have to make the choice: change or stay: river or rock.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "Four Ways to Forgiveness", "slug": "four-ways-to-forgiveness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/four-ways-to-forgiveness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 104, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "change", "slug": "change", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#Four_Ways_to_Forgiveness_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:00" }, { "id": "81cb7b57-cdff-4001-a26b-ec02f9e1bc7e", "slug": "but-you-knew", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-farthest-shore/but-you-knew", "text": "“But you knew them to be evil men—” “Was I to join them therefore? To let their acts rule my own? I will not make their choices for them, nor will I let them make mine for me!”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "The Farthest Shore", "slug": "the-farthest-shore", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-farthest-shore" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#The_Farthest_Shore_(1972)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:56" }, { "id": "87267832-2218-4684-9639-180849fd2a19", "slug": "watson-sighs-so-in-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-weiner/time-love-memory/watson-sighs-so-in-that", "text": "Watson sighs. “So in that sense you don’t have a free will. Your reactions are programmed. You know, you start asking the difference,” he says with a nod toward the Fly Room next door. “What free will is there in Drosophila? You put the question of the free will of a fly. And what’s really different about the fly’s brain from ours—which gives us free will? “I’m sure once we know how the brain works, we’ll no longer talk about free will in the Jesuit sense. It will cease to be, you know—” Freedom will cease to be a mystery requiring Jesuitical debate; it will cease to be a theological or philosophical question. “It will just be how the brain works. You will describe how the brain works. You won’t use the words ‘free will’; you know, you’ll understand…. Because you’re asking, how does the brain work?” He says in a softer voice. “That’s what you’re really asking.” The bell in the double-helical bell tower outside his office window begins to toll. “And that’s really the ultimate question to ask,” he says.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Weiner", "slug": "jonathan-weiner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-weiner" }, "book": { "title": "Time, Love, Memory", "slug": "time-love-memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-weiner/time-love-memory" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 251, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Weiner#Time,_Love,_Memory:_A_Great_Biologist_and_His_Quest_for_the_Origins_of_Behavior_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:41" }, { "id": "e4814597-e20d-4824-a66e-b4e35c95acf6", "slug": "there-are-only", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/survivor/there-are-only", "text": "There are only patterns, patterns on top of patterns, patterns that affect other patterns. Patterns hidden by patterns. Patterns within patterns. If you watch close, history does nothing but repeat itself. What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can’t decipher. What we can’t understand we call nonsense. What we can’t read we call gibberish. There is no free will. There are no variables.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Survivor", "slug": "survivor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/survivor" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Survivor_(Palahniuk_novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:19" }, { "id": "d3e25846-f954-4104-9e1e-18b6a73c33dd", "slug": "every-man-builds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged/every-man-builds", "text": "\"Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice. If he abdicates his power, he abdicates the status of man, and the grinding chaos of the irrational is what he achieves as his sphere of existence—by his own choice.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Atlas Shrugged", "slug": "atlas-shrugged", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 791, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged#Chapter_Two:_The_Utopia_of_Greed", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:52" }, { "id": "9fd550b5-4618-45f7-8635-b1aa559d8bc2", "slug": "who-knows-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/white-noise/who-knows-what", "text": "Who knows what I want to do? Who knows what anyone wants to do? How can you be sure about something like that? Isn't it all a question of brain chemistry, signals going back and forth, electrical energy in the cortex? How do you know whether something is really what you want to do or just some kind of nerve impulse in the brain? Some minor little activity takes place somewhere in this unimportant place in one of the brain hemispheres and suddenly I want to go to Montana or I don't want to go to Montana. How do I know I really want to go and it isn't just some neurons firing or something? Maybe it's just an accidental flash in the medulla and suddenly there I am in Montana and I find out I really didn't want to go there in the first place. I can't control what happens in my brain, so how can I be sure what I want to do ten seconds from now, much less Montana next summer? It's all this activity in the brain and you don't know what's you as a person and what's some neuron that just happens to fire or just happens to misfire.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "White Noise", "slug": "white-noise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/white-noise" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "desire", "slug": "desire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/desire" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo#White_Noise_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:39" }, { "id": "2df69415-948a-405f-afb7-5b789b52629b", "slug": "just-when-youd", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens/just-when-youd", "text": "Just when you'd think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved. It was this free-will thing, of course. It was a bugger.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Good Omens", "slug": "good-omens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 34, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Good_Omens#Eleven_years_ago", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:52" }, { "id": "b7b7ef37-c889-4d84-8add-2c64e4a841ba", "slug": "hey-guess-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions/hey-guess-what", "text": "Hey — guess what: You're the only creature with free will. How does that make you feel?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Breakfast of Champions", "slug": "breakfast-of-champions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Breakfast_of_Champions_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:40" }, { "id": "696e8863-76cb-4994-9b3e-98f49ea6ad55", "slug": "he-had-made", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle/he-had-made", "text": "He had made me feel as though my own free will were as irrelevant as the free will of a piggy-wig arriving at the Chicago stockyards.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Cat's Cradle", "slug": "cats-cradle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat's_Cradle#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:37" }, { "id": "4f7f8707-6a73-413e-a168-dfe1ef53a41d", "slug": "among-the-forces", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/theodore-dreiser/sister-carrie/among-the-forces", "text": "Among the forces which sweep and play throughout the universe, untutored man is but a wisp in the wind. Our civilization is still in a middle stage, scarcely beast, in that it is no longer wholly guided by instinct; scarcely human, in that it is not yet wholly guided by reason. On the tiger no responsibility rests. We see him aligned by nature with the forces of life — he is born into their keeping and without thought he is protected. We see man far removed from the lairs of the jungles, his innate instincts dulled by too near an approach to free-will, his free-will not sufficiently developed to replace his instincts and afford him perfect guidance. He is becoming too wise to hearken always to instincts and desires; he is still too weak to always prevail against them. As a beast, the forces of life aligned him with them; as a man, he has not yet wholly learned to align himself with the forces. In this intermediate stage he wavers — neither drawn in harmony with nature by his instincts nor yet wisely putting himself into harmony by his own free-will. He is even as a wisp in the wind, moved by every breath of passion, acting now by his will and now by his instincts, erring with one, only to retrieve by the other, falling by one, only to rise by the other — a creature of incalculable variability. We have the consolation of knowing that evolution is ever in action, that the ideal is a light that cannot fail. He will not forever balance thus between good and evil. When this jangle of free-will and instinct shall have been adjusted, when perfect understanding has given the former the power to replace the latter entirely, man will no longer vary. The needle of understanding will yet point steadfast and unwavering to the distant pole of truth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Theodore Dreiser", "slug": "theodore-dreiser", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/theodore-dreiser" }, "book": { "title": "Sister Carrie", "slug": "sister-carrie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/theodore-dreiser/sister-carrie" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "instinct", "slug": "instinct", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/instinct" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Dreiser#Sister_Carrie_(1900)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:21" }, { "id": "8751dabf-0c79-44f1-b8c0-bf0f6ee83984", "slug": "we-can-act", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience/we-can-act", "text": "We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full of special designs; lay plans as if we were to be immortal; and we find then that these words do make a genuine difference in our moral life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William James", "slug": "william-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james" }, "book": { "title": "The Varieties of Religious Experience", "slug": "the-varieties-of-religious-experience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "faith", "slug": "faith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_James#The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_(1902)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:14" }, { "id": "8a1a6329-e1a2-439c-90e7-60f06d77b9e6", "slug": "wasnt-that-their", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/red-prophet/wasnt-that-their", "text": "Wasn't that their natural right, to know the truth so as to be able to let the truth lead them to do good or evil, as they chose?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Red Prophet", "slug": "red-prophet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/red-prophet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Red_Prophet_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:12" }, { "id": "3a5039ea-1a05-4fe6-a24a-b74ceef88353", "slug": "not-that-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth/not-that-human", "text": "Not that human beings need to be violent in order to be human, but if you ever lose the will to control, the will to destroy, then it must be because you choose to lose it. My role was not to force you to be gentle and kind; it was to keep you alive while you decided for yourselves what kind of people you wanted to be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "The Memory Of Earth", "slug": "the-memory-of-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-memory-of-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "violence", "slug": "violence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Memory_Of_Earth_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09" }, { "id": "7d5aa39d-9ae3-42fa-afd7-074a1eed0a0d", "slug": "when-ancient-greeks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/lullaby/when-ancient-greeks", "text": "When ancient Greeks had a thought, it occurred to them as a god or goddess giving an order. Apollo was telling them to be brave. Athena was telling them to fall in love. Now people hear a commercial for sour cream potato chips and rush out to buy them, but now they call this free will. At least the Greeks were being honest.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Lullaby", "slug": "lullaby", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/lullaby" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" }, { "name": "advertising", "slug": "advertising", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advertising" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk#Lullaby_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:58" }, { "id": "3202c1c0-b863-495f-a374-086fde45f1d2", "slug": "any-delusions-of-free", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune-messiah/any-delusions-of-free", "text": "Any delusions of Free Will he harbored now must be merely the prisoner rattling his cage. His curse lay in the fact that he saw the cage. He saw it!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Dune Messiah", "slug": "dune-messiah", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune-messiah" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Dune_Messiah_(1969)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:51" }, { "id": "d3acdc90-1191-4dfc-ac4b-5c9dc147fd9d", "slug": "what-is-it-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/what-is-it-what", "text": "What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozzening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike. And all the time, lo! that smiling sky, and this unsounded sea!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 599, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#The_Symphony_(132)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:42" }, { "id": "acd77182-f207-42e6-bb3a-50e20cb8c7ea", "slug": "human-beings-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/anansi-boys/human-beings-do-not", "text": "Human beings do not like being pushed about by gods. They may seem to, on the surface, but somewhere on the inside, underneath it all, they sense it, and they resent it. They know. Spider could tell her to be happy about the situation, and she would be happy, but it would be as real as painting a smile on her face—a smile that she would truly believe, in every way that mattered, was her own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Anansi Boys", "slug": "anansi-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/anansi-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "manipulation", "slug": "manipulation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anansi_Boys#Chapter_9_-_In_Which_Fat_Charlie_Answers_the_Door_and_Spider_Encounters_Flamingos", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:12" }, { "id": "0241a012-d4f9-4a8d-8c5f-710fe61b0e53", "slug": "by-liberty-then", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-hume/an-enquiry-concerning-human-understanding/by-liberty-then", "text": "By liberty, then, we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Hume", "slug": "david-hume", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-hume" }, "book": { "title": "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding", "slug": "an-enquiry-concerning-human-understanding", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-hume/an-enquiry-concerning-human-understanding" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hume#An_Enquiry_Concerning_Human_Understanding_(1748)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:55" }, { "id": "f09ae748-bac5-41df-a645-51f4f6091265", "slug": "a-man-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon/a-man-is-the", "text": "A man is the resultant and exponent of all the forces that have been brought to bear upon him, whether before his birth or afterwards. His action at any moment depends solely upon his constitution, and on the intensity and direction of the various agencies to which he is, and has been, subjected. Some of these will counteract each other; but as he is by nature, and as he has been acted on, and is now acted on from without, so will he do, as certainly and regularly as though he were a machine. We do not generally admit this, because we do not know the whole nature of any one, nor the whole of the forces that act upon him. We see but a part, and being thus unable to generalise human conduct, except very roughly, we deny that it is subject to any fixed laws at all, and ascribe much both of a man's character and actions to chance, or luck, or fortune; but these are only words whereby we escape the admission of our own ignorance; and a little reflection will teach us that the most daring flight of the imagination or the most subtle exercise of the reason is as much the thing that must arise, and the only thing that can by any possibility arise, at the moment of its arising, as the falling of a dead leaf when the wind shakes it from the tree.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel Butler", "slug": "samuel-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Erewhon", "slug": "erewhon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(novelist)#Erewhon_(1872)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:53" }, { "id": "9994ca59-fdca-4136-bf21-534ac841e7de", "slug": "you-ask-me-if-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/you-ask-me-if-the", "text": "You ask me if the movements of animals are spontaneous; my answer is, \"I cannot tell,\" but analogy points that way. You ask me again, how do I know that there are spontaneous movements? I tell you, \"I know it because I feel them.\" I want to move my arm and I move it without any other immediate cause of the movement but my own will. In vain would any one try to argue me out of this feeling, it is stronger than any proofs; you might as well try to convince me that I do not exist. It is no more possible for me to conceive how my will moves my body than to conceive how my sensations affect my mind. I do not even know why one of these mysteries has seemed less inexplicable than the other.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "secrets", "slug": "secrets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/secrets" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:35" }, { "id": "ab4dfb4c-c257-42f9-9c6e-a02cc7ea6ae3", "slug": "in-fact-for", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life/in-fact-for", "text": "In fact, for a voluntarist like Schopenhauer, a theory so sanely and cautiously empirical and rational as that of Darwin, left out of account the inward force, the essential motive, of evolution. For what is, in effect, the hidden force, the ultimate agent, which impels organisms to perpetuate themselves and to fight for their persistence and propagation? Selection, adaptation, heredity, these are only external conditions. This inner, essential force has been called will on the supposition that there exists also in other beings that which we feel in ourselves as a feeling of will, the impulse to be everything, to be others as well as ourselves yet without ceasing to be what we are.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Miguel de Unamuno", "slug": "miguel-de-unamuno", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno" }, "book": { "title": "Tragic Sense of Life", "slug": "tragic-sense-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evolution", "slug": "evolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evolution" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno#VII_:_Love,_Suffering,_Pity", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:22" } ] }