amor fati

[ uh-mawr fah-tee ]

noun

, Latin

1. love of fate: a concept, philosophy, or attitude, often associated with Stoicism, of embracing with appreciation all the experiences in one’s life as being necessary for life itself, regardless of how mediocre, joyful, or distressing those experiences may be:

   Nietzsche’s formula for greatness was amor fati—wanting nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of amor fati¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Late Latin, from Latin amor “love” + fātī (genitive of fātum “what has been spoken, destiny”); amorous ( def ), fate ( def )

Example Sentences

The unmistakable sign of heroism is amor fati, a fierce delight in one's destiny, hold what it may.

From Project Gutenberg