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The concept of fate, the idea that someone, a power, perhaps greater than our own, controls every aspect of our lives, has plagued mankind since the dawn of philosophy. To truly understand this concept we must ask ourselves, “What is fate?” With our birth do we create a set path that we cannot deviate from, or are our lives created by free choice? Are there parts of our life set out before us, but getting there our choice? Or is it completely unreal, just chance happenings, and coincidence? As I interpret the word I think fate is what we make of our lives. Be it free decision, chance circumstance and perhaps some fortune. The word fate can be traced back to the Latin word, Fatum, which means spoken by the gods. A closer relating word is the French word fat, which dates back to the year 1386. Today, Webster’s dictionary defines fate as “the principal of determining or will by which things are supposed to come.” Words that coincide with fate are Destiny, fortune, lot, providence, and kismet. If one is going to analyze the concept of fate, one must look at all three parts that could possibly make it up, free decision, chance circumstance and destiny. There are many questions one asks when analyzing the idea of fate.