Fortune, men say, doth give too much to many,
But yet she never gave enough to any.
_Epigrams_. SIR J. HARRINGTON.
Are there not, dear Michal,
Two points in the adventure of the diver,
One--when, a beggar, he prepares to plunge?
One--when, a prince, he rises with his pearl?
Festus, I plunge.
_Paracelsus_. R. BROWNING.
When Fortune means to men most good,
She looks upon them with a threatening eye.
_King John, Act iii. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.
Fortune in men has some small diff'rence made,
One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade:
The cobbler aproned, and the parson gowned,
The friar hooded, and the monarch crowned.
_Essay on Man, Epistle IV_. A. POPE.
Who thinks that fortune cannot change her mind,
Prepares a dreadful jest for all mankind.
_Second Book of Horace, Satire II_. A. POPE.
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.
_K. Henry IV., Pt. II. Act iv. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.
Under heaven's high cope
Fortune is god--all you endure and do
Depends on circumstance as much as you.
_Epigrams. From the Greek_. P.B. SHELLEY.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
_Julius Caesar, Act iv. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.
Prosperity doth bewitch men, seeming clear;
As seas do laugh, show white, when rocks are near.
_White Devil, Act v. Sc_. 6. J. WEBSTER.
Oh, how portentous is prosperity!
How comet-like, it threatens while it shines.
_Night Thoughts, Night V_. DR. E. YOUNG.
I have set my life up on a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.
_King Richard III., Act v. Sc_. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
Blessed are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger,
To sound what stop she please.
_Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out.
_King Henry V., Act iv. Sc_. 1. SHAKESPEARE.