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Fortune: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
She hugged the offender, and forgave the offense, Sex to the last.— DRYDEN — Cymon and Iphigenia. L. 367.
His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong.— EMERSON — Letters and Social Aims.
Greatness. The offender never pardons.— HERBERT — Jacula Prudentum. No. 563.
For 'tis sweet to stammer one letter Of the Eternal's language; -on earth it is callèd Forgiveness!— LONGFELLOW — The Children of the Lord's Supper. L. 214.
These evils I deserve, and more * * * * * * Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon, Whose ear is ever open, and his eye Gracious to re-admit the suppliant.— MILTON — Samson Agonistes. L. 1170.
Good-nature and good-sense must ever join; To err is human, to forgive, divine.— POPE — Essay on Criticism. L. 522.
I pardon him, as God shall pardon me.— Shakespeare — Richard II. Act V. Sc. 3. L. 131.
What if this cursed hand Were thicker than itself with brother's blood? Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow?— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 43.
The more we know, the better we forgive; Whoe'er feels deeply, feels for all who live.— MADAME DE STAËL — Corinne.
S. Bk. XVIII. Ch. V. Pardon, not wrath, is God's best attribute.— BAYARD TAYLOR — Poems of the Orient.
Temptation of Hassan Ben Khaled. St. 11. L. 31. The sin That neither God nor man can well forgive.— TENNYSON — Sea Dreams.
But chiefly, the mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands.— BACON — Essays. Of Fortune.
Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune: for though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.— BACON — Essays. Of Fortune.
Fortune, now see, now proudly Pluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look, Look what thou hast brought this land to!-— BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER — The Tragedy of Bonduca. Act V. Sc. 5. Sc. 5.
Just for a handful of silver he left us, Just for a ribbon to stick in his coat; Found the one gift of which Fortune bereft us, Lost all the others she lets us devote.— ROBERT BROWNING — The Lost Leader.
Fortune, the great commandress of the world, Hath divers ways to advance her followers : To some she gives honor without deserving; To other some, deserving without honor; Some wit, some wealth, and some, wit without wealth; Some wealth without wit; some nor wit nor wealth.— GEO. CHAPMAN — All Fools. Act V. Sc. 1.
Ill fortune seldom comes alone.— DRYDEN — Cymon and Iphigenia. L. 592.
Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me. I have a soul that, like an ample shield, Can take in all, and verge enough for more.— DRYDEN — Don Sebastian. Act I. Sc. 1.
Neuer thinke you fortune can beare the sway, Where Virtue's force, can cause her to obay.— QUEEN ELIZABETH — Preserved by
Geo. Puttenham in his "Art of Poesie." Bk. III. Of Ornament, "which" (he says) our soueraigne Lady ،، wrote in defiance of Fortune." Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.— GIBBON — Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ch. LXXI.
Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune; He had not the method of making a fortune.— GRAY — On his own Character.
Fortune, men say, doth give too much to many, But yet she never gave enough to any.— SIR JOHN HARRINGTON — Epigram. Of
Fortune. The bitter dregs of Fortune's cup to drain.— HOMER — Iliad. Bk. XX. L. 85.
Pope's trans. Fortune comes well to all that comes not late.— LONGFELLOW — Spanish Student. Act III. Sc. 5. L. 281.
I wish thy lot, now bad, still worse, my friend, For when at worst, they say, things always mend.— OWEN — To a Friend in Distress.
Cowper's trans. Fortune in men has some small diffrence made, One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade; The cobbler apron'd, and the parson gown'd, The friar hooded, and the monarch crown'd.— POPE — Essay on Man. Ep. IV. L. 195.
Who thinks that fortune cannot change her mind, Prepares a dreadful jest for all mankind. And who stands safest? Tell me, is it he That spreads and swells in puff'd prosperity, Or bless'd with little, whose preventing care In peace provides fit arms against a war?— POPE — Second Book of Horace. Satire II. L. 123.
Every one is the architect of his own fortune.— PSEUDO-SALLUST — Ep. de Rep. Ordin. Ep. II. St. 1.
A good man's fortune may grow out at heels.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 164.
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms.— Shakespeare — As You Like It. Act II. Sc. 7. L. 16.
Fortune brings in some boats, that are not steer'd.— Shakespeare — Cymbeline. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 46.
Fortune is merry, And in this mood will give us anything. Julius Cæsar. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 271. Fortune knows, We scorn her most, when most she offers blows. Antony and Cleopatra. Act III. Sc. 11. L. 73. Fortune, that arrant whore, Ne'er turns the key to the poor. и.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 52.
How some men creep in skittish Fortune's hall, While others play the idiots in her eyes!— Shakespeare — Troilus and Cressida. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 134.
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.— Shakespeare — Tempest. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 181.
O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle.— Shakespeare — Romeo and Juliet. Act III. Sc. 5. L. 60.
The great man down, you mark his favorite flies, The poor advanced makes friends of enemies.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 214.
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger To sound what stop she please.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 75.
When Fortune means to men most good, She looks upon them with a threatening eye.— Shakespeare — King John. Act III. Sc. 4. L. 119.
Will Fortune never come with both hands full, But write her fair words still in foulest letters? She either gives a stomach, and no food; Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast, And takes away the stomach; such are the rich, That have abundance, and enjoy it not.— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. II. Act IV. Sc. 4. L. 103.
Ye gods, it doth amaze me, A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world, And bear the palm alone. Julius Cæsar. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 128. So is Hope Changed for Despair-one laid upon the shelf, We take the other. Under heaven's high cope Fortune is god-all you endure and do Depends on circumstance as much as you.— SHELLEY — Epigrams. From the Greek.
Fortune, my friend, I've often thought, Is weak, if Art assist her not: So equally all Arts are vain, If Fortune help them not again.— SHERIDAN — Love Epistles of
Aristxnetus. Ep. XIII. Fortune is like glass-the brighter the glitter, the more easily broken. h. PUBLIUS SYRUS. Maxims. 283. Forever, Fortune, wilt thou prove An unrelenting foe to love, And, when we meet a mutual heart, Come in between, and bid us part?— THOMSON — Song. To Fortune.
For fortune's wheel is on the turn, And some go up and some go down.— MARY F. TUCKER — Going Up and
Quivis beatus, versâ rotâ fortunæ, ante vesperum potest esse miserrimus. Any one who is prosperous may by the turn of fortune's wheel become most wretched before evening.— AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS — Historia.
XXVI. 8. Si fortuna juvat, caveto tolli; Si fortuna tonat, caveto mergi. If fortune favors you do not be elated; if she frowns do not despond.— AUSONIUS — Septem Sapientium
Sententiæ Septenis Versibus Explicatæ. IV. 6. Suæ quemque fortunæ maxime pœnitet. Every one is dissatisfied with his own fortune.— CICERO — Epistolæ. VI. 1.
Vitam regit fortuna, non sapientia. It is fortune, not wisdom, that rules man's life. C.— CICERO — Tusculanarum Disputationum.
Fortuna multis dat nimis, satis nulli. Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.— MARTIAL — Epigrammata. XII. 10. 2.
Casus ubique valet: semper tibi pendeat hamus, Quo minime credas gurgite, piscis erit. Luck affects everything; let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish.— OVID — Ars Amatoria. III. 425.
Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos; Tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris. As long as you are fortunate you will have many friends, but if the times become cloudy you will be alone.— OVID — Tristium. I. 9. 5.
Fortuna miserrima tuta est: Nam timor eventus deterioris abest. The most wretched fortune is safe; for there is no fear of anything worse.— OVID — Epistolæ Ex Ponto. II. 2. 31.
Intra fortunam quisque debet manere suam. Every man should stay within his own fortune.— OVID — Tristium. III. 4. 26.
Actutum fortunæ solent mutarier; varia vita est. Man's fortune is usually changed at once; life is changeable.— PLAUTUS — Truculentus. II. 1. 9.
Fortuna humana fingit artatque ut lubet. Fortune moulds and circumscribes human affairs as she pleases.— PLAUTUS — Captivi. II. 2. 54.
Nam multa præter spem scio multis bona evenisse, At ego etiam qui speraverint, spem decepisse multos. For I know that many good things have happened to many, when least expected; and that many hopes have been disappointed.— PLAUTUS — Rudens. II. 3. 69.
S. Nulli est homini perpetuum bonum. No man has perpetual good fortune.— PLAUTUS — Curculis. I. 3. 32.
Præsente fortunâ pejor est futuri metus. Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune.— QUINTILIAN — De Institutione Oratoria.
XII. 5. Breves et mutabiles vices rerum sunt, et fortuna nunquam simpliciter indulget. The fashions of human affairs are brief and changeable, and fortune never remains long indulgent.— QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS — De Rebus
Gestis Alexandri Magni. IV. 14. 20. Sed profecto Fortuna in omni re dominatur; ea res cunctas ex lubidine magis, quam ex vero, celebrat, obscuratque. But assuredly Fortune rules in all things; she raises to eminence or buries in oblivion everything from caprice rather than from well-regulated principle.— SALLUST — Catilina. VIII.
Aurea rumpunt tecta quietem, Vigilesque trahit purpura noctes. O si pateant pectora ditum, Quantos intus sublimis agit Fortuna metus. Golden palaces break, man's rest, and purple robes cause watchful nights. Oh, if the breasts of the rich could be seen into, what terrors high fortune places within! C.— SENECA — Hercules Etxus. 646.
Felix, quisquis novit famulum Rogemque pati, Vultusque potest variare suos! Rapuit vires pondusque malis, Casus animo qui tulit æquo. Happy the man who can endure the highest and the lowest fortune. He, who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity, has deprived misfortune of its power.— SENECA — Hercules Etxus. CCXXVIII.
Iniqua raro maximis virtutibus Fortuna parcit. Nemo se tuto diu Periculis offerre tam crebris potest, Quem sæpe transit casus, aliquando invenit. Adverse fortune seldom spares men of the noblest virtues. No one can with safety expose himself often to dangers. The man who has often escaped is at last caught.— SENECA — Hercules Furens. CCCXXV.
Minor in parvis Fortuna furit, Leviusque ferit leviora deus. Fortune is gentle to the lowly, and heaven strikes the humble with a light hand.— SENECA — Hippolytus. 1,124.
O Fortuna, viris invida fortibus, Quam non æque bonis præmia dividis! O Fortune, that enviest the brave, what unequal rewards thou bestowest on the righteous!— SENECA — Hercules Furens. 524.
Plus fait douceur que violence. Gentleness succeeds better than violence.— LA FONTAINE — Fables. VI. 3.
Est ist hier wie in den alten Zeiten Wo die Klinge noch alles that bedeuten. It is now as in the days of yore when the sword ruled all things.— SCHILLER — Wallenstein's Lager. VI. 140.
Di qui nacque che tutti li profeti armati vinsero, e li disarmati rovinarono. Hence it happened that all the armed prophets conquered, all the unarmed perished.— MACHIAVELLI — Il Principe. C. 6.
C'est la fortune de France. It is the fortune of France. p. PHILIP the Fortunate. Fortune aveugle suit aveugle hardiesse. Blind fortune pursues inconsiderate rash. ness.— LA FONTAINE — Fables. X. 14.
Il lit au front de ceux qu'un vain luxe environne, Que la fortune vend ce qu'on croit qu'elle donne. We read on the forehead of those who are surrounded by a foolish luxury, that Fortune sells what she is thought to give.— LA FONTAINE — Philemon et Baucis.
La fortune ne paraît jamais si aveugle qu' a ceux à qui elle ne fait pas de bien. Fortune never seems so blind as to those upon whom she confers no favors. S.— LA ROCHEFOUCAULD — Maximes. 391.
Das Glück erhebe billig der Beglückte. It is the fortunate who should extol fortune.— GOETHE — Torquato Tasso. II. 3. 115.
Ein Tag der Gunst ist wie ein Tag der Ernte, Man muss geschäftig sein sobald sie reift. The day of fortune is like a harvest day, We must be busy when the corn is ripe.— GOETHE — Torquato Tasso. IV. 4. 62
Che sovente addivien che'l saggio è'l forte. Fabro a se stesso è di beata sorte. They make their fortune who are stout and wise, Wit rules the heavens, discretion guides the skies.— TASSO — Gerusalemme. X. 20.