quotations about fortune
What is Fortune, what is Fame?
Futile gold and phantom name--
Riches buried in a cave,
Glory written on a grave.
HENRY VAN DYKE
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"The Talisman"
In the temple, high in place
Stood Dame Fortune, fair of face,
Holding Plutus, god of riches,
In her fond and fickle arms.
Horns of plenty at her feet
Emptied half their contents sweet,
And winged Cupid stood before her,
Fascinated by her charms.
HENRY ABBEY
"The City of Success"
All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold.
ANITA BROOKNER
The Paris Review, fall 1987
It is a poor sort of fatalism which makes men fold their hands and wait for fortune.
LYMAN ABBOTT
Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths
He is truly a happy man who can, upon all occasions, reconcile himself to his fortune.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
Fortune hath many roads.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
To be a great man one should know how to profit by every phase of fortune.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims
It is vain to complain of fortune while we fail in policy and conduct.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
We make a goddess of Fortune ... and place her in the highest heaven. But it is not fortune that is exalted and powerful, but we ourselves that are abject and weak.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Every man is the architect of his own fortunes, but the neighbors superintend the construction.
GEORGE ADE
"The Fable of What They Hankered For and What Was Delivered to Them", Hand-Made Fables
A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it.
JULIE ANDREWS
"Thoroughly Modern Julie", The Guardian, Oct. 13, 2004
Fortune makes many loans, but gives no presents.
PUBLILIUS SYRUS
The Moral Sayings of Publilius Syrus
Whatever difference may appear in men's fortunes, there is nevertheless a certain compensation of good and ill that makes all equal.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Moral Maxims
The folly of one man, is the fortune of another. For no man prospers so suddenly, as by others' errors.
FRANCIS BACON
"Of Fortune", The Essays or Counsels
He deserves to be fortune's favorite who can use her gifts with an even hand.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door.
GOETHE
Torquato Tasso
Fortune may raise up or abuse the ordinary mortal, but the sage and the soldier should have minds beyond her control.
SIR WALTER SCOTT
Tale of the Crusaders
The wheel of Fortune, like that of a ship, is full of spokes, and sometimes flies so sharply round as to crush those who have become puffed up with her favours, so that they burst at the first tap; whilst such as are nourished, instead of bloated, by the stream of prosperity, escape by slipping between the spokes until the pressure has passed, their moderation providing their safeguard.
CHARLES WILLIAM DAY
The Maxims
Fortune never seems so blind to any as to those on whom she bestows no favors.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Moral Maxims
Fantastic fortune thou deceitful light,
That cheats the weary traveler by night,
Though on a precipice each step you tread,
I am resolved to follow where you lead.
APHRA BEHN
The Rover