Fortune Quotes - Page 20

• The great presidents never forget the principle of the republic and seek to preserve and enhance them – in the long run– without undermining the needs of the moment. Bad presidents simply do what is expedient, heedless of principles. But the worst presidents are those who adhere to the principles regardless of what the fortunes of the moment demand.

  George Friedman

  Running, Long, President

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• We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith.

  Margaret D. Nadauld

  Needs, Fame, Enough

  "The Joy of Womanhood" by Margaret D. Nadauld, www.lds.org. November 2000.

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• When fortune wishes to bring mighty events to a successful conclusion, she selects some man of spirit and ability who knows how to seize the opportunity she offers.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Successful, Opportunity, Men

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• Fortune-telling doesn't reveal the future; it mirrors the present. It resonates against what your subconscious already knows and hauls it up out of the darkness so you can get a good look at it.

  Charles de Lint

  Mirrors, Darkness, Looks

  "Dreams Underfoot". Book by Charles de Lint, 1993.

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• Night-dreams trace on Memory's wall Shadows of the thoughts of day, And thy fortunes, as they fall, The bias of the will betray.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Dream, Wall, Memories

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Susan Sutton Smith, Ralph H. Orth (1990). “The Topical Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.68, University of Missouri Press

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• Not even the vicissitudes of fortune are contrary to nature or to the providential ordering of the universe. It all flows from the gods, who determine what is needed for the welfare of the whole universe, of which you are a part.

  Marcus Aurelius

  Flow, Welfare, Vicissitudes

  Marcus Aurelius, C. Scot Hicks, David Hicks (2002). “The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations”, p.27, Simon and Schuster

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• Outward objects cannot take hold of the soul, nor force their passage into her, nor set any of her wheels going. No, the impression comes from herself, and it is her own motions which affect her. As for the contingencies of fortune, they are either great or little, according to the opinion she has of her own strength.

  Marcus Aurelius

  Soul, Littles, Wheels

  Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome) (1887). “The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius”

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• With a novelist's sense of drama and a historian's understanding of the social forces that shape our lives, Tom Gjelten has captured vividly -- through the chronicle of a powerful family's fortunes -- one of the great political dramas of our time.

  Ronald Steel

  Powerful, Drama, Political

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• To how many girls has a great beauty been of no other use but to make them expect a large fortune!

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Beauty, Girl, Use

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• Nothing keeps longer than a middling fortune, and nothing melts away sooner than a large one.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Wealth

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• A lofty birth or a large fortune portend merit, and cause it to be the sooner noticed.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Causes, Merit, Birth

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• Ah, fortune and fame shall follow me ... and I shall dwell in the world of the chosen for a few moments of fleeting ecstasy; ere the seven burly lads turn into creditors and hustle me off to debtors' prison at last.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Hustle, Fleeting, World

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967”, p.44, Ballantine Books

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• Fortune has been considered the guardian divinity of fools; and, on this score, she has been accused of blindness; but it should rather be adduced as a proof of her sagacity, when she helps those who cannot help themselves.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Divinity, Fool, Helping

  Charles Caleb Colton (1823). “Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan”, p.52

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• The poorest of the sex have still an itch To know their fortunes, equal to the rich. The dairy-maid inquires, if she shall take The trusty tailor, and the cook forsake.

  John Dryden

  Sex, Curiosity, Maids

  John Dryden, Joseph Warton, John Warton (1856). “The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Containing the Original Poems, Tales, and Translations”, p.404

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• The wise maketh every thing the means of advantage; and with the same countenance beholdeth he all the faces of fortune: he governeth the good, he conquereth the evil; he is unmov'd in all. Presume not in prosperity, neither despair thou in adversity.

  Robert Dodsley

  Wise, Mean, Adversity

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• A successful life does not result from chance; nor is it determined by fate or good fortune, but rather through a succession of successful days.

  Ari Kiev

  Fate, Successful, Doe

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• Who grasps with his fist one who has an arm of steel injures only his own powerless wrist. Wait till inconstant fortune ties his hand, then ... pick out his brains.

  Bill Vaughan

  Power, Hands, Ties

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• In democratic countries, however opulent a man is supposed to be, he is almost always discontented with his fortune, because he finds that he is less rich than his father was, and he fears that his sons will be less rich than himself.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Country, Father, Son

  Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.463, Bantam Classics

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• What chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the exertions they daily make to improve them.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Ambition, Men, Democracy

  Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.528, Bantam Classics

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• Hairbreadth missings of happiness look like the insults of Fortune.

  Henry Fielding

  Missing, Looks, Insult

  Henry Fielding (2007). “Tom Jones”, p.632, Collector's Library

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• To speak a bold truth, I am, after much mature deliberation, inclined to suspect that the public voice hath, in all ages, done much injustice to Fortune, and hath convicted her of many facts in which she had not the least concern.

  Henry Fielding

  Voice, Age, Facts

  Henry Fielding (1821). “The novels of Henry Fielding ... complete in one volume. To which is prefixed, a memoir of the life of the author [by sir W. Scott].”, p.500

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• When Fortune knocks, open the door,' they say. But why should one make fortune knock, by keeping the door shut?

  Idries Shah

  Doors, Should

  Idries Shah (1988). “Caravan of Dreams”, p.220, Octagon Press Ltd

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• Only to two or three persons in all the world are the reminiscences of a man's early youth interesting: to the parent who nursed him; to the fond wife or child mayhap afterwards who loves him; to himself always and supremely--whatever may be his actual prosperity or ill fortune, his present age, illness, difficulties, renown, or disappointments--the dawn of his life still shines brightly for him, the early griefs and delights and attachments remain with him ever faithful and dear.

  William Makepeace Thackeray

  Children, Disappointment, Grief

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• Take too much pleasure in good things, you'll feel The shock of adverse fortune makes you reel.

  Horace

  Too Much, Pleasure, Good Things

  Horace (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Horace (Illustrated)”, p.373, Delphi Classics

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• Fortune never seems so blind to any as to those on whom she bestows no favors.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Favors, Blind, Seems

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