Fortune Quotes
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The truly good and wise man will bear all kinds of fortune in a seemly way, and will always act in the noblest manner that the circumstances allow.
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More Fortune Quotes
By accident most strange, bountiful fortune Now my dear lady hath mine enemies Brought to this shore; and by my prescience I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star, whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes Will ever after droop.
william shakespeare— The Tempest (c. 1604), Prospero, in Act I, scene ii
We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged.
henry knox— McCullough, pg 201
To die alone, on rock under sun at the brink of the unknown, like a wolf, like a great bird, seems to me very good fortune indeed.
edward abbey— "The Dead Man at Grandview Point", p. 186
fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
— William Shakespeare; Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 3
That discipline which corrects the baseness of worldly passion, fortifies the heart with virtuous principles, enlightens the mind with useful knowledge, and furnishes it with enjoyment from within itself, is of more consequence to real felicity, than all the provision we can make of the goods of fortune.
blair hugh— P. 109. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
I've opened the way for others to make fortunes, but a fortune for myself was not what I was after.
daniel boone— As quoted in Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (1993) by John Mack Faragher p. 301
The extreme emphasis upon the accumulation of wealth as a symbol of success in our society militates against the completely effective control of institutionally regulated modes of acquiring a fortune.
— p.59 (Social structure and anomie (1938))
To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune ; to be daunted by no difficulty ; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness?
— William Makepeace Thackeray, in Nancy Williams Conquer the Fear of Death, Epitome Books, 01 January 2009, p.58
What need of expensive sacrifices , Or of difficult penances ? Worship Ganga, asking for happiness and good fortune , and she will bring you heaven and salvation .
— Padma Purana (V.60.39), in The Ganges in Myth and History (1 January 2001), p.14
It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one. fortune bestows the one, merit obtains the other.
petrarch— De vita solitaria (1346) as quoted in Madalyn Aslan's Jupiter Signs: How to Improve Your Luck, Career, Health, Finances, Appearance, and Relationships Through the New Astrology (2003) by Madalyn Aslan
We will watch the sun set againmany times, and perhaps we'll see the Emerald Drop, the green flash that brings good fortune.
Jean pseudonym of Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams Rhys— 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea, pt.2.
Referring to a wealthy miser he said, "He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him."
bion of borysthenes— As quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 50.
So, Damocles, since this life delights you, do you wish to taste it yourself and make trial of my fortune?
dionysius i of syracuse— As quoted by Cicero, in Tusculan disputations 5.61 as translated by Gavin Betts
If we live by subhuman means we might as well never have had the good fortune to be born human.
ihara saikaku— Book III, ch. 4
Give a beggar a dime and he'll bless you. Give him a dollar and he'll curse you for withholding the rest of your fortune. Poverty is a bag with a hole at the bottom.
anzia yezierska— Red Ribbon on a White Horse, ch. 9 (1950)
History shows that whenever an emergency arises, our national spirit is most emphatically manifested to advance the prestige and fortune of the nation. It is incumbent upon us to leave no stone unturned in order to promote loyalty and bravery on the home front as well, and to replenish and demonstrate our nation's powers, for which are required the inculcation of the spirit of reverence for deities and respect for ancestors, the renovation of national education and the of the people's physical strength.
mitsumasa yonai— alternate version: History shows that, whenever an emergency arises, our national spirit is manifested most emphatically to advance the prestige and bring about the prosperity of the nation. Nor must we be negligent in any way in promoting a loyal and heroic spirit among the home-front population so that national strength may be augmented and given full play. For this purpose, such measures as the fostering of the spirit of piety and of honouring ancestors, the renovation of national education and the improvement of the people's physical strength.
— Quoted in "Tokyo Gazette" - Page 343 - by Nihon Gaiji Kyokai. Also quoted in "Modern Japan and Shinto Nationalism" - Page 19 - by Daniel Clarence Holtom - 1963
The Goddess fortune is the devils servant ready to Kiss any ones Arse.
william blake— Inscription on Illustrations to Dante "No. 16: HELL Canto 7"
No radiant pearl, which crested fortune wears, No gem that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears, Not the bright stars which Night's blue arch adorn, Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn, Shine with such lustre as the tear that flows Down Virtue's manly cheek for others' woes.
erasmus darwin— Erasmus Darwin, The Botanic Garden, Part II, Canto III, line 459.
To balance fortune by a just expense, Join with Economy, Magnificence.
Alexander Pope— Alexander Pope, Moral Essays (1731-35), Epistle III, line 223.
You are now fixed at the mercy of no governor that comes to make his fortune great; you shall be governed by laws of your own making and live a free, and if you will, a sober and industrious life. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person. God has furnished me with a better resolution and has given me his grace to keep it.
william penn— Letter to those already residing in Pennsylvania (1681)
Let every man in mankind's frailtyConsider his last day; and let nonePresume on his good fortune until he findLife, at his death, a memory without pain.
Sophocles— Variant: Look upon him, O my Thebans, on your king, the child of fame!This mighty man, this Œdipus the lore far-famed could guess,And envy from each Theban won, so great his lordliness—Lo to what a surge of sorrow and confusion hath he come!Let us call no mortal happy till our eyes have seen the doomAnd the death-day come upon him—till, unharassed by mischance,He pass the bound of mortal life, the goal of ordinance.[Tr. E. D. A. Morshead (1885)]
— Variant: People of Thebes, my countrymen, look on Oedipus.He solved the famous riddle, with his briliance,he rose to power, a man beyond all power.Who could behold his greatness without envy?Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him.Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day,count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last.[quoted by Thomas Cahill in Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea]
— Line 1529, Choragos.
Chacun est artisan de sa bonne fortune.
— Every one is the architect of his own fortune.
— Regnier, Satire, XIII. Pseudo-Sallust, Epigram de Rep. Ordin., II. 1. Quoting Appius Claudius Cæcus, the Censor. Same idea in Plautus, Trinummus, II. 2. 84. Cervantes, Don Quixote. 1. 4. Schiller, Wallenstein's Death, XII. 8. 77. Metastasio, Morte d'Abele, II.
Innocence most often is a good fortune and not a virtue.
— Anatole France, in Les Dieux Ont Soif [The Gods Are Thirsty] (1912), Chapter XV
What need of expensive sacrifices , Or of difficult penances ? Worship Ganga , asking for happiness and good fortune , and she will bring you heaven and salvation.
— Padma Purana (v.60.39), in The Ganges in Myth and History, (1 January 2001), p.14
As the blessings of health and fortune have a beginning , so they must also find an end . Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.
— As quoted in The Cyclopaedia of Practical Quotations: English and Latin (1894) edited by J. K. Hoyt and Anna L. Ward, p. 508
I am one of those fortune people who have seen Bradman and Tendulkar bat in my lifetime and in my opinion Tendulkar is the best batsman I have seen in my life.
— Hanif Mohammed [26]
Nature meant me A wife, a silly, harmless, household dove, Fond without art, and kind without deceit; But fortune, that has made a mistress of me, Has thrust me out to the wide world, unfurnish'd Of falsehood to be happy.
john dryden— 1678 Cleopatra. All for Love,or The World Well Lost, act 4.
