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| Robert Christy, comp. Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages. 1887. |
| Fortune, Luck |
| A drop of fortune is worth a cask of wisdom. Latin. | 1 |
| A fortunate boor needs but be born. | 2 |
| A fortunate man may be anywhere. | 3 |
| A handful of luck is better than a sackful of wisdom. German. | 4 |
| A little will serve a fortunate man. | 5 |
| A lucky man is rarer than a white crow. Juvenal. | 6 |
| A man does not seek his luck, luck seeks its man. Turkish. | 7 |
| A man of parts may lie hid all his life unless fortune calls him out. | 8 |
| A stout heart crushes ill luck. Spanish. | 9 |
| All are not born to lie on the lap and drink milk. Hans Andersen. | 10 |
| All bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance. Virgil. | 11 |
| All brings grist to your mill. | 12 |
| As fortune is sought so it is found. German. | 13 |
| Bad luck, bad credit. German. | 14 |
| Bad luck often brings good luck. | 15 |
| Be not arrogant when fortune smiles, nor dejected when she frowns. Ausonius. | 16 |
| Better luck next time. | 17 |
| Born of a white hen. (Said of a lucky fellow.) Latin. | 18 |
| Call me not fool till Heaven has sent me fortune. Shakespeare. | 19 |
| Every man is arrogant or humble according to his fortune. | 20 |
| Every one is dissatisfied with his own fortune. Cicero. | 21 |
| Everything he touches turns into gold. (An allusion to Midas, king of Phrygia.) | 22 |
| Everything may be borne except good fortune. Italian. | 23 |
| For him who is lucky even the cock lays eggs. Modern Greek. | 24 |
| Fortune aids the bold. Spanish. | 25 |
| Fortune always leaves some door open in disasters whereby to come at a remedy. Don Quixote. | 26 |
| Fortune and go to sleep. Italian. | 27 |
| Fortune and misfortune are neighbors. German. | 28 |
| Fortune and misfortune are two buckets in a well. German. | 29 |
| Fortune can take away riches but not courage. Seneca. | 30 |
| Fortune can take from us only what she has given us. French. | 31 |
| Fortune changes not birth. Horace. | 32 |
| Fortune comes to her who seeks her. Italian. | 33 |
| Fortune does not stand waiting at any one’s door. Dutch. | 34 |
| Fortune dreads the brave and is only terrible to the coward. Seneca. | 35 |
| Fortune favors fools. | 36 |
| Fortune favors the brave. Latin. | 37 |
| Fortune gives her hand to a brave man. | 38 |
| Fortune gives many too much, but no one enough. Laberias. | 39 |
| Fortune has no power over discretion. Solon. | 40 |
| Fortune has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius. Isaac Disraeli. | 41 |
| Fortune has wings. German. | 42 |
| Fortune helps that help themselves. | 43 |
| Fortune helps the bold, but not always. German. | 44 |
| Fortune is a woman: if you neglect her to-day, expect not to regain her to-morrow. French. | 45 |
| Fortune is blind. German. | 46 |
| Fortune is gentle to the lowly, and Heaven strikes the lowly with a light hand. Seneca. | 47 |
| Fortune is like glass: she breaks when she is brightest. Latin. | 48 |
| Fortune is like the market, where if you will bide your time the price will fall. | 49 |
| Fortune is like women: loves youth and is fickle. German. | 50 |
 | |
| Fortune is not content to do a man but one ill turn. Publius Syrus. | 51 |
| Fortune is not far from the brave man’s head. Turkish. | 52 |
| Fortune is round; it makes one a king, another a beggar. Dutch. | 53 |
| Fortune is the companion of virtue. Latin. | 54 |
| Fortune is the guardian of the stupid. German. | 55 |
| Fortune knocks once at least at every man’s door. | 56 |
| Fortune lost, nothing lost; courage lost, much lost; honor lost, more lost; soul lost, all lost. Dutch. | 57 |
| Fortune makes a fool of him she too much favors. Latin. | 58 |
| Fortune makes friends, and misfortune tries them. German. | 59 |
| Fortune makes kings and fools. German. | 60 |
| Fortune makes kings out of beggars, and beggars out of kings. German. | 61 |
| Fortune makes rich and poor. German. | 62 |
| Fortune often knocks at the door, but the fool does not invite her in. Danish. | 63 |
| Fortune often lends her smiles as churls do money, to undo the debtor. | 64 |
| Fortune often rewards with interest those that have patience to wait for her. | 65 |
| Fortune rarely brings good or evil singly. | 66 |
| Fortune seldom comes alone. | 67 |
| Fortune smiles upon the brave and frowns upon the coward. Latin. | 68 |
| Fortune sometimes favors those she afterwards destroys. Italian. | 69 |
| Fortune wearies with carrying one and the same man always. | 70 |
| Fortunes of thousands, thousands ten, cannot be made but by able men. Chinese. | 71 |
| Fortune unaided prevails over the plans of one hundred learned men. Plautus. | 72 |
| Fortune when she caresses a man too much makes him a fool. Latin. | 73 |
| From twelve eggs he gets thirteen chickens. German. | 74 |
| Give a man luck and throw him in the sea. | 75 |
| God send you luck, my son, and little wit will serve your turn. | 76 |
| Good conduct overcomes ill fortune. Charles of Anjou. | 77 |
| Good fortune ever fights on the side of prudence. Greek. | 78 |
| Good fortune comes to her who takes care of her. | 79 |
| Good fortune gives courage. Hans Andersen. | 80 |
| Good luck comes by cuffing. | 81 |
| Good luck lies in odd numbers. Shakespeare. | 82 |
| Good luck reaches farther than long arms. | 83 |
| Half an ounce of luck is better than a pound of sense. German. | 84 |
| He dances well to whom fortune pipes. | 85 |
| He extracts milk even from a barren goat. Greek. | 86 |
| He is lucky who forgets what cannot be mended. German. | 87 |
| He needs little advice that is lucky. | 88 |
| He planted pebbles and took potatoes. Greek. | 89 |
| He was born with a caul. French. | 90 |
| He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. | 91 |
| He who hath no ill fortune is clogged with good. | 92 |
| He who is meant to be a basket carrier is born with the handle in his hand. Italian. | 93 |
| His bread fell into the honey. Spanish. | 94 |
| His bread is buttered on both sides. | 95 |
| His hens lay eggs with two yolks. German. | 96 |
| If fortune favor you, be not elated; if she frown, do not despond. Ausonius. | 97 |
| If he fling a penny on the roof, a dollar would come down to him. | 98 |
| If it is to be luck the bull may as well calve as the cow. Danish. | 99 |
| If you are too fortunate you will not know yourself. If you are too unfortunate nobody will know you. | 100 |
| It is better to be born lucky than rich. | 101 |
| It is easier to win good luck than to retain it. Latin. | 102 |
| It is not every man who is the son of Gaika. (Gaika was a very rich man among the South Africans.) African. | 103 |
| Low fortunes only break low minds. Massinger. | 104 |
| Luck comes to those who look after it. Spanish. | 105 |
| Luck does not remain standing before one’s door. German. | 106 |
| Luck for fools, and chance for the ugly. | 107 |
| Luck follows the hopeful, ill luck the fearful. German. | 108 |
| Luck gives many too much, but no one enough. German. | 109 |
| Luck has but a slender anchorage. Danish. | 110 |
| Luck has much for many, but enough for no one. Danish. | 111 |
| Luck is all. | 112 |
| Luck is better than a hundred marks. Danish. | 113 |
| Luck is everything in promotion. Don Quixote. | 114 |
| Luck is for the few, death for the many. German. | 115 |
| Luck meets the foot but he seizes it not. German. | 116 |
| Luck offers his hand to the bold. German. | 117 |
| Luck perhaps visits the fool but does not sit down by him. German. | 118 |
| Luck seeks those who flee and flees those who seek it. German. | 119 |
| Luck stops at the door and inquires whether prudence is within. Danish. | 120 |
| Luck will carry a man across the brook if he is not too lazy to leap. Danish. | 121 |
| Lucky men need no counsel. | 122 |
| Men are seldom blessed with good fortune and good sense at the same time. Livy. | 123 |
| More luck than wit. Dutch. | 124 |
| No hour brings good fortune to a man, without bringing misfortune to another. Publius Syrus. | 125 |
| No man has perpetual good fortune. Plautus. | 126 |
| No man knoweth fortune till he dies. Dutch. | 127 |
| One man gets an estate by what another man gets a halter. Fielding. | 128 |
| One man is born to the money and another to the purse. Danish. | 129 |
| Pitch him into the Nile and he will come up with a fish in his mouth. Arabian. | 130 |
| That is a very wretched fortune which has no enemy. Publius Syrus. | 131 |
| The bird of prosperity has lodged on his head. Turkish. | 132 |
| The goddess of fortune dwells in the feet of the industrious. The goddess of misfortune dwells in the feet of the sluggard. Tamil. | 133 |
| The heathen’s fortune is the Christian’s providence. | 134 |
| The highest spoke in fortune’s wheel may soon turn lowest. | 135 |
| The lucky man has a daughter for his first-born. Portuguese, Spanish. | 136 |
| The most friendly fortune trips up your heels. French. | 137 |
| The most wretched fortune is safe, for there is no fear of anything worse. Ovid. | 138 |
| The wheel of fortune turns quicker than a mill wheel. Don Quixote. | 139 |
| The worse luck, the better another time. | 140 |
| The worse service, the better luck. Dutch. | 141 |
| There is no fence against fortune. | 142 |
| There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so. German. | 143 |
| There lies no appeal from the decisions of fortune. | 144 |
| They who strive with fortune win or weary her at last. Byron. | 145 |
| To a bold man fortune holds out her hand. French. | 146 |
| To have luck needs little wit. Italian. | 147 |
| To the bold man fortune gives her hand. Spanish, Portuguese. | 148 |
| Too poor for a bribe and too proud to importune, He hath not the method of making a fortune. Gray on his own character. | 149 |
| Whatever fortune has raised to a height, she has raised only to cast it down. Seneca. | 150 |
| When fortune favors a man too much she makes him a fool. Publius Syrus. | 151 |
| When fortune fawneth she biteth, when she is angry she woundeth. | 152 |
| When fortune knocks, open the door. Italian, German. | 153 |
| When fortune means to men most good, She looks upon them with a threatening eye. Shakespeare. | 154 |
| When fortune reaches out her hand one must seize it. German. | 155 |
| When fortune opens one door she opens another. German. | 156 |
| When fortune smiles, take advantage. | 157 |
| When smiling fortune spreads her golden ray, All crowd around to flatter and obey. But when she thunders from the angry sky, Our friends, our flatterers, our lovers fly. Ovid. | 158 |
| Where luck is wanting, diligence is useless. Spanish. | 159 |
| Who changes country changes luck. Italian. | 160 |
| Who changes his condition changes fortune. Italian. | 161 |
| Who has luck needs no understanding. German. | 162 |
| Who has luck plays well with bad cards. German. | 163 |
| Who has luck warms himself without fire and grinds without wind or water. German. | 164 |
| Whom fortune favors the world favors. German. | 165 |
| Will fortune never come with both hands full? Shakespeare. | 166 |
| You must have good luck to catch hares with a drum. Danish. | 167 |
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