Full Idea
I cannot will the intention of making myself something other than what I am determined to be by nature, for I don't make myself at all but nature makes me and whatever I become.
Gist of Idea
I cannot change the nature which has been determined for me
Source
Johann Fichte (The Vocation of Man [1800], 1)
Book Reference
Fichte,Johann G.: 'The Vocation of Man', ed/tr. Preuss,Peter [Hackett 1987], p.19
A Reaction
I take this to be a lot more accurate than Sartre's claim that we can re-make ourselves, but Fichte doesn't seem quite right. Don't I get any credit at all if I give up smoking, or train myself to treat someone more sympathetically?
Related Ideas
Idea 433 For man character is destiny [Heraclitus]
Idea 23236 Freedom means making yourself become true to your essential nature [Fichte]