That same moment he ordered the hateful portrait taken out. But that did not calm his inner agitation: all his feelings and all his being were shaken to their depths, and he came to know that terrible torment which, by way of a striking exception, sometimes occurs in nature, when a weak talent strains to show itself on too grand a scale and fails; that torment which gives birth to great things in a youth, but, in passing beyond the border of dream, turns into a fruitless yearning; that dreadful torment which makes a man capable of terrible evildoing.

Some things you cannot stop happening.

So you see, we are not free to choose our fate. There is a yoke to be borne and freedom is only an illusion. I am not free. God has put me here on earth for a reason.

I knew that I was talented. I was positive about that. I wasn__ sure exactly what I was talented at, but I was ambitious enough to wait it out and see what turned up.

Man got into difficulty when he lifted his will against God__. He gets out of trouble when he bows to the divine superiority, when he repents and says humbly: __od be merciful to me a sinner._ Man__ extremity then becomes God__ opportunity.

God__ will is for us to commit our lives to Christ and follow Him. God__ will also is that we avoid sin.