Quote

The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.

— Swami Vivekananda

Sentiment: POSITIVE

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✓Similar Perspectives

There have always been arguments showing that free will is an illusion: some based on hard physics, others based on pure logic.

— Ted Chiang

Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one's self.

— Max Stirner

But I don't actually adopt the point of view that our subjective impression of free will, which is a kind of indeterminacy behavior, comes from quantum mechanical indeterminacy.

— Murray Gell-Mann

As far as I can see, it's not important that we have free will, just as long as we have the illusion of free will to stop us going mad.

— Alan Moore

Freewill means that the Universe never judges, never interferes with your own choices - and sees you as a being of equal creative power.

— Joy Page

As long as you're enthralled by a lifeless form, you're not free.

— Bodhidharma

Free will is an illusion. People always choose the perceived path of greatest pleasure.

— Scott Adams

Only that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.

— Baruch Spinoza

✗Opposing Perspectives

One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is free will. Even though it's free, we don't take advantage of it as much as we could when it comes to matters of the heart.

— Niecy Nash

God, our genes, our environment, or some stupid programmer keying in code at an ancient terminal - there's no way free will can ever exist if we as individuals are the result of some external cause.

— Orson Scott Card