On the Universe 401b8-24
I think that God and nothing else is meant when we speak of
Necessity, since he is as it were an invincible cause; and Fate,
because his action is continuous and he cannot be stayed in his
course; and Destiny, because all things have their bounds, and
nothing which exists is infinite; and Lot, from the fact that all
things are allotted; and Nemesis, from the apportionment which is
made to every individual; and Adrasteia, which is a cause ordained
by nature which cannot be escaptes; and Dispensation, so called
because it exists for ever. What is said of the Fates and their
spindle tends to the same conclusion, for they are three, appointed
over different periods of time, and the thread on the spindle is
part of it already spend, part reserved for the future, and part in
the course of being spun. One of the Fates is appointed to deal with
the past, namely Atropos, for nothing that is gone by can be
changed; Lachesis is concerned with the future, for cessation in the
course of nature awaits all things; Clotho presided over the
present, accomplishing and spinning for each their own particular
destiny. The fable is well and duly composed. All these things are
nought else but God.
Notes:
On the Universe was not written by Aristotle. It is
called a 'spurious' work of Aristotle, by which is meant that it is
handed down to us in the Aristotelian corpus and we have no other
author to attribute it to, but we have good reasons to believe it
was not actually written by Aristotle.
Also, looking up the etymology of the names in this passage will
help understand the claims made here (Atropos, for example, means
'not turning' or 'un-changing'). Etymology was a very unscientific
thing in antiquity.