August 17, 2019
Fate Leads the Willing; the Unwilling it Drags: Meaning and Significance
What a wonderful thing to say, right? Fate leads the willing; the unwilling it drags. You might have also seen some variation of it, such as Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant. Originally this was written by the Roman poet Seneca – ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt, if you want the Latin version.
There have been many interpretations of this short quote. After all, this is the way art operates.
For some, Seneca’s words describe something stoic, making you “suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune“.
Others perhaps might see something optimistic in it. I’ve seen at least one person having tattooed “Fate Leads the Willing” on their arm – indeed in Latin.
My personal opinion differs from both these approaches. I subscribe to neither utter stoicism nor manic optimism.
The key is in understanding what both “leads” and “drags” mean in this context
Fate Leads the Willing: What Do We Mean by “Leads” though?
The more stoic interpretations focus on the necessity to submit to one’s fate. Doing so, the argument goes, you don’t perceive the process as a negative one.
You are not dragged, you go by your own free will!
Personally, I don’t buy that. It reminds me of an old joke describing democracy: “We, the government, have decided that you, the citizens, have to go through a period of austerity. And, as in any democratic state, you are free to do so!”
To interpret “fate leads the willing” in such a stoic way, is akin to believing you are free to do what the government decided.
Parenthesis:
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On the other hand, those who interpret “fate leads the willing” in an excessively optimistic a manic way, might suggest something in the style of “no guts, no glory” or “luck favors the bold”, or some other asinine comment that believes a bit too much in the American Dream.
Tell that to the untold millions who are “led by fate” to their deaths in poverty, homelessness, or as civilians killed by bombs – oh, sorry, did I use the wrong word? I meant “collateral damage”.
So, what other alternative interpretations do we have? I’ll get to that in a minute, right after I examine the other half of the quotation.
The Unwilling it Drags: What Do We Mean by “Drags” though?
Interpretations are equally misguided when it comes to the second half of the citation. For extreme stoics, to be unwillingly dragged means you couldn’t see that you ought to have submitted to your fate, and as a result you suffer.
If you didn’t buy the whole “you are free to do as we tell you” part, probably you don’t appreciate this one either.
On the other hand, for an excessively optimistic interpretation, the second half of the quotation is little more than just a pointless warning; a shaking of the finger at those poor sods who can’t seem to work hard enough to believe in the American Dream – which, just in case you need a reminder – it’s called that way because you have to be asleep to believe it.
So, what are we left with?
Fate Leads the Willing; the Unwilling it Drags — or, how to Understand the Dynamics of Meaning
Fate leads the willing. This should mean neither passivity nor mindless optimism (virtually leading to the abandonment, not enhancement of personal effort).
To me, “fate leads the willing; the unwilling it drags” refers to the dynamics of meaning. Every day, every hour, and every minute of your day is another chance for a different path.
There are very few things we can control. We can control almost nothing related to material goods. This also means that most of us are very vulnerable to injustice. Inevitably, this can make us believe that our lives depend on fate – whether it leads us or drags us.
If you’re interested in a literary example, take a look at Frankenstein – for a more modern example, I can also shamelessly blow my own trumpet and promote Apognosis or Self Versus Self.
Fate, Coincidences, Luck. Time for a New Renaissance
But for now, let’s focus on Frankenstein and Victor’s dealings with fate. I said in that article (citing from a contemporary critic):
There never was a wilder story imagined, yet, like most of the fictions of this age, it has an air of reality attached to it, by being connected with the favourite projects and passions of the times … Our appetite, we say, for every sort of wonder and vehement interest, has in this way become so desperately inflamed, that especially as the world around us has again settled into its old dull state of happiness and legitimacy, we can be satisfied with nothing in fiction that is not highly coloured and exaggerated.
(The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany 1818)
As the anonymous critic sagaciously observes, Mary Shelley’s work represents a wider cultural milieu.
We are in a similar quagmire today. Its dynamics are of course altered – “immortality” means less what it did in the Victorian era and more something to do with… Facebook.
We are similarly numbed by the sheer loss of control of our lives, that we retort to “every sort of wonder” that will give us the proverbial pat on the back. People need answers, even when these are mindless.
Is it time for a new Renaissance? The question is rhetorical.
Ultimately, to say that fate leads the willing and drags the unwilling, should be a sign for a personal Renaissance. As I said, every moment is a new chance for deciding on a new meaning. You can’t control where “fate” (others’ decisions) might take your life, so you better make sure you can control what you think, feel, and can say.
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Heavy stuff for the middle of the night when I can’t sleep – ‘Go back to bed’ isn’t working.
I’m trying to do exactly that: discover what the meaning is when many of the toils have been lifted but I still work hard to write. I don’t have to – but you have to do something, and it might as well be something that gives pleasure, and has a small possibility of being a legacy.
No person has any control over anything they do — ““Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” ~ Einstein
Once this is understood, the meaning of Seneca’s quote becomes clear. But — “understood” by whom? You can explain basic arithmetic in a very clear and precise manner, but if you are explaining it to your pet parakeet, he ain’t gonna get it.
If you replace the word “fate” with the words “universal intelligence,” which is arguably how ancient Romans understood fate, then the meaning becomes abundantly clear. When the willing face the trials and tribulations of change with an open and willing heart, Universal intelligence will lead the way. It provides insights and information as needed for the evolution of our consciousness. We experience fast and beneficial progress.
If we face the difficulties of life’s changes with intransigence and resistance to give up cherished ideals or even the most grotesque aspects of personal animus, the Universal Intelligence will compel us to give them up with increasing ferocity. The more resistance we offer only affects how we age and slows progress to the intended good the Universal Intelligence offers.