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Paradise Lost Fate and Free Will Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Book Number, Line Number

Quote #7

"No Decree of mine
Concurring to necessitate his Fall,
Or touch with lightest moment of impulse
His free Will, to her own inclining left
In even scale" (10.43-7)

God reiterates a point he's made throughout the poem. Not even the "lightest…impulse" from God has affected Adam and Eve's behavior. Note the importance God places on words associated with the fate versus free will debate: "decree," "necessitate," "impulse," and "inclining."