Self-Sufficiency - Destiny Destiny as defined in Websters Dictionary is "that which inevitably happens as if determined by force." If this is what fate means, then I believe Emerson “hit the nail on the head” when he wrote his essay “Fate.” Emerson truly believes that everyone has a predetermined destiny that will happen. It seems his message is that you don't decide your future but it's already decided for you and you just have to deal with it because you have no control over what will happen. The class, for the most part, agreed with him. Examples have been given that if you lose everything due to an earthquake, it is destiny because you have no control over nature. I disagree, if you want to be safe you can move to a place in the world where earthquakes and natural disasters are at a minimum. To some extent, you can protect yourself from danger and determine your own destiny. Emerson disagrees with me, he thinks that everyone is born to do a certain job and that what we will do in life is already predetermined. Emerson writes that "...out of every million there will be an astronomer, a mathematician, a comic poet...", suggesting that there is no point in trying to improve yourself because you were destined to be something and it doesn't matter what you do. I can't escape your fate. Then, just as he convinced you of your destiny, he imposes limits on your destiny. He writes that “..destiny has its master; limits have limits,” so now destiny has a limit. I don't think anyone brought this up in class discussion, but it needs to be addressed. Emerson now admits that there is a power greater than fate but gives no clear picture (at least not to me) of what exactly it is. This essay seems to follow autonomy in that it gives you a false sense of security. This also shows that Emerson can't even make up his mind and finds contradictions in the arguments he tries to make. But then again, as we've discussed many times, when you read a work repeatedly, you often find messages you didn't even realize existed. I am convinced that Emerson, in writing and rereading this essay several times, kept finding different meanings and wanted to show that he too was as confused as the average person. “Fate” shows one man's acceptance and denial of what he believes to be true, a comforting thought when we consider that everything around us is changing..