Fortune Quotes

"Seek not to know what must not be reveal, for joy only flows where fate is most concealed. A busy person would find their sorrows much more; if future fortunes were known before!"

John Dryden, Poet

"What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed?"

James Madison, President

"What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class"

Alexis de Tocqueville, Historian

"The more we take the less we become, the fortune of one man means less for some"

Sarah McLachlan, Musician

"The responsibilities which are imposed by rank and privilege and good fortune can... become very onerous indeed"

Robert Welch

"The day of fortune is like a harvest day, We must be busy when the corn is ripe"

Torquato Tasso, Poet

"It is the fortunate who should extol fortune"

Torquato Tasso, Poet

"This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away"

Amelia Barr, Novelist

"We always take credit for the good and attribute the bad to fortune"

Charles Kuralt, Journalist

"Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master of his life and fortune"

Charles de Secondat, Philosopher

"People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world"

Louisa May Alcott, Novelist

"Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields, or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and you will succeed"

William Makepeace Thackeray, Novelist

"Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none"

Marcus Valerius Martial, Poet

"Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune"

Quintilian, Educator

"I have had the good fortune to see how my articles have directly benefited some farmers and helped build markets for their products in a way that preserves land from development. That makes me a hopeless optimist"

Michael Pollan, Educator

"I believe in America. America's made my fortune"

Mario Puzo, Novelist

"It has become a certainty now that if you will only advertise sufficiently you may make a fortune by selling anything"

Anthony Trollope, Author

"But I, Caesar, have not sought to amass wealth by the practice of my art, having been rather contented with a small fortune and reputation, than desirous of abundance accompanied by a want of reputation"

Marcus V. Pollio, Architect

"If I wasn't an actress I would run a fortune 500 company"

Sela Ward, Actress

"In sleep, you are safe from the revolting mechanics of living and being a prey to outrageous fortune"

Taylor Caldwell, Author

"Fear of the future is worse than one's present fortune"

Quintilian, Educator

"There are heads of royal families who control hereditary fortunes that defy comprehension"

Paul Getty, Businessman

"The most accurate representation of how I feel is that I'm incredibly lucky to be working in this structure where people get paid millions to read the news on TV. And, yes, it is insane. And there is nothing I can say beyond acknowledging my immense good fortune, and being aware that I'm blessed, and aware that it isn't going to last forever"

Tom Hanks, Actor

"I had the great good fortune to interview Peggy Lee. Her memories of working with Walt Disney and his team were warm and upbeat"

Leonard Maltin, Critic

"I had the good fortune to be able to right an injustice that I thought was being heaped on young people by lowering the voting age, where you had young people that were old enough to die in Vietnam but not old enough to vote for their members of Congress that sent them there"

Birch Bayh, Politician

"One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others"

Robert A. Heinlein, Writer

"I've had ample contact with lawyers, and I'm convinced that the only fortune they ever leave is their own"

Wilson Mizner, Dramatist

"A slave has but one master. An ambition man, has as many as there are people who helped him get his fortune"

Wilson Mizner, Dramatist

"There is no defense against adverse fortune which is so effectual as an habitual sense of humor"

Thomas W. Higginson, Clergyman

"Fortune has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius"

Isaac Disraeli, Writer

"The freedom to make a fortune on the stock exchange has been made to sound more alluring than freedom of speech"

John Mortimer, Novelist

"Your fortune is not something to find but to unfold"

Eric Butterworth, Educator

"The aggregation of large fortunes is not at all a thing to be regretted"

William Graham Sumner, Businessman

"Not that I am ashamed of my mind or body, my birth or breeding, my actions or fortunes, for my bashfulness is in my nature, not for any crime"

Margaret Cavendish, Writer

"These are hallowed moments, when every American has reason to express his gratitude to Almighty God that it has been our good fortune to witness the light of this auspicious morn"

Nelson A. Miles, Soldier

"There are many facts showing that Putin's people enriched themselves by using power mechanisms so that's why for them losing power means losing their fortunes"

Garry Kasparov, Celebrity

"I'm not after fame and success and fortune and power. It's mostly that I want to have a good job and have good friends; that's the good stuff in life"

Drew Barrymore, Actress

"It's sometimes unnerving to think of that, and I wish it were possible for all children in the world to have the good fortune I've had in having a giving and loving family"

James MacArthur, Actor

"I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value"

Hermann Hesse, Novelist

"If I traveled to the end of the rainbow as Dame Fortune did intend, Murphy would be there to tell me the pot's at the other end"

Edward Koch, Politician

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