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Men at some time are masters of their fates: / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2

PhilosophyLiterature

The story behind the card

Cassius speaks these lines in Act 1 of Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare in 1599. He tells Brutus that nothing in the heavens made Caesar great and them his underlings: they allowed it. Many people then believed the stars shaped a person's fate. Today the line is quoted as a call to take charge of your life, and it gave John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars its title. In the play it is flattery with a purpose: Cassius is drawing Brutus into the plot to kill Caesar.

Türkçe oku
İnsanlar kimi zaman kendi kaderlerinin efendisidir: / Başkalarının buyruğunda yaşıyorsak, sevgili Brutus, / suç yıldızlarımızda değil, kendimizde.
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. perde, 2. sahne

Bu dizeleri, Shakespeare'in 1599'da yazdığı Julius Caesar'ın 1. perdesinde Cassius söyler. Brutus'a, Caesar'ı yücelten ve kendilerini onun buyruğuna düşüren şeyin gökyüzü değil, kendi boyun eğişleri olduğunu anlatır. O dönemde pek çok insan kaderin yıldızlarda yazılı olduğuna inanırdı. Bugün dize “hayatının sorumluluğunu üstlen” anlamında alıntılanır; John Green'in Türkçeye Aynı Yıldızın Altında adıyla çevrilen romanı da özgün adını, The Fault in Our Stars'ı bu dizeden alır. Oyunda ise bu sözler hesaplı bir iltifattır: Cassius, Brutus'u Caesar'ı öldürme planına çekmeye çalışmaktadır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Julius Caesar (play)
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