Favorite Inspiring Quotes
Free Will
Commentary by Peter Shepherd

“Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism, the way you play it is free will.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
A universal paradox: you are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.
“Free will is an illusion. People always choose the perceived path of greatest pleasure.” ~ Scott Adams
Not necessarily... Service? Sacrifice? Conscience? Nevertheless, the minute you stop caring about what other people think and start doing what you really want to do, true to your core loving self, that is the minute you finally feel free..
“Busy is a choice. Stress is a choice. Joy is a choice. Choose well” ~ Ann Voskamp
Whenever you have choice, you have free will. Which means, nearly always.
“Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Imagine compulsory love - just wouldn't work!
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” ~ Gautama Buddha
We are in our own hands. As Mark Helprin said: "If nothing is random, and everything is predetermined, how can there be free will? The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is determined, or was determined, or will be determined." And Stephen Hawking: "I have noticed that even those who claim everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road."

Here’s some further reading on this theme...
It is my philosophy that we are blessed with the ability to think. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to do just that. To begin we must ask the first question, “Who am I?” When I ask this question I typically receive the same answer—silence. Why is that? The bottom line comes down to the simple fact that we have been largely programmed. Programmed to believe certain things, to think in certain ways, to behave according to acceptable standards, to obey, to conform and so forth. Continues...