Human beings express their intention of doing a thing, but it is God who
decides whether it is to be done. Hence the expression _Deo volente_ ,
abbreviated DV, which means ‘God willing’.

> ‘I shall see you again next year, DV.’

_Origin:_ This proverb is a translation from “The Imitation of Christ” by the
German-born Thomas Kempis (c.1380-1471): “For the resolutions of the just
depend rather on the grace of God than on their own wisdom; and in Him they
always put their trust, whatever they take in hand. For man proposes, but God
disposes; neither is the way of man in his own hands.” This may be a
reflection of a verse in the Bible (Proverbs 16:9): “A man’s heart deviseth
his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” Shakespeare, too, had a similar
message in “Hamlet” by Hamlet: “There is a divinity that shapes our ends,
rough-hew them how we will.”