運命を制す unmei o seisu I Control My Destiny

運命を制す is a claim of mastery over your own fate. 運命 is fate, the power beyond human will that deals out good fortune and bad, and 制す is to command it. The ending is the old written form, the voice of a maxim. The line has no subject, so whoever chooses it is the one who commands. Whether it is for yourself or for someone who is making their own way is yours.

The line is the last three words of a maxim, the hero can master fate, which Japanese books of maxims printed from 1899 to 1923 and credited to Napoleon, though no French source for it is known.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 運命を制す.

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

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