life is what you make it

phrase

You are in control of your own destiny through choices and actions, rather than being a passive victim of fate.

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Meanings

phrase
  1. You are in control of your own destiny through choices and actions, rather than being a passive victim of fate.

    ‘People used to say: “life is what you make it”.’ ‘That, my dear Bill, outside of very narrow limits is just a load of - well, I don’t want to be rude.’

    1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 248
Cite this entry
APA

life is what you make it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life%20is%20what%20you%20make%20it

MLA

“life is what you make it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life%20is%20what%20you%20make%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “life is what you make it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life%20is%20what%20you%20make%20it.

Source: life is what you make it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.