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
We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged.
henry knox— McCullough, pg 201
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
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))
fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
— William Shakespeare; Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 3
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
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
He devoted himself, his life, his fortune, his hereditary honors, his towering ambition, his splendid hopes, all to the cause of liberty. He came to another hemisphere to defend her. He became one of the most effective champions of our Independence; but, that once achieved, he returned to his own country, and thenceforward took no part in the controversies which have divided us.
lafayette, gilbert du motier, marquis de— John Quincy Adams? in an address to the US Congress (31 December 1834)
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))
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
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
I've seen the smiling of fortune beguiling, I've felt all its favours and found its decay; Sweet was its blessing, kind its caressing, But now it is fled, fled far, far away.
Richard Cobden— 1765 'The Flowers of the Forest'.
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.
There various news I heard of love and strife,Of peace and war, health, sickness, death, and life,Of loss and gain, of famine and of store,Of storms at sea, and travels on the shore,Of prodigies, and portents seen in air,Of fires and plagues, and stars with blazing hair,Of turns of fortune, changes in the state,The fall of favourites, projects of the great,Of aid mismanagements, taxations new:All neither wholly false, nor wholly true.
Alexander Pope— Lines 449-458.
As material fortune is associated with the properties of the body, so honor belongs to those of the soul.
ptolemy— Book IV, sec. 1
O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle.
william shakespeare— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597), Act III, scene 5, line 60.
She makes her hand hard with labour, and her heart soft with pity: and when winter evenings fall early (sitting at her merry wheel), she sings a defiance to the giddy wheel of fortune … and fears no manner of ill because she means none.
thomas overbury— Thomas Overbury, A Fair and Happy Milkmaid.
O fickle fortune, why this cruel sporting? Why thus torment us poor sons of day? Nae mair your smiles can cheer me, nae mair your frowns can fear me, For the flowers of the forest are a' wade away.
Richard Cobden— 1765 'The Flowers of the Forest'. wade = weeded. The last line is often rendered 'For the flowers of the forest are withered away'.
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.
If hindrances obstruct thy way, Thy magnanimity display. And let thy strength be seen: But O, if fortune fill thy sail With more than a propitious gale, Take half thy canvas in.
william cowper— William Cowper, Translation of Horace, Book II. Ode 10.
