"Fortune favours the bold" or "fortune favours the brave" are among the English translations of the Latin proverb "audentes Fortuna iuvat" and its variations. The phrase has been widely used as a slogan in the Western world to emphasize the rewards of courage and bravery, particularly within military organizations, and it is also used up to the present day on the coats of arms of numerous families and clans. It has historically served as a popular motto for universities, along with other academic institutions and recreational associations.
Fortune favours the bold is the translation of a Latin proverb, which exists in several forms with slightly different wording but effectively identical meaning, such as:
This last form is used by Turnus, an antagonist in the Aeneid by Virgil. [2] Fortuna refers to luck and to the Roman goddess who was its personification.
Another version of the proverb, fortes Fortuna adiuvat , 'fortune favours the strong/brave', was used in Terence's 151 BC comedy play Phormio , line 203. [3] Ovid extends the phrase at I.608 of his didactic work, Ars Amatoria, writing "audentem Forsque Venusque iuvat" or "Venus, like Fortune, favors the bold."
Pliny the Younger quotes his uncle, Pliny the Elder, as using the phrase Fortes fortuna iuvat when deciding to take his fleet and investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, in the hope of helping his friend Pomponianus: "'Fortes' inquit 'fortuna iuvat: Pomponianum pete.'" ("'Fortune', he said, 'favours the brave: head for Pomponianus.'") [4] [5] Pliny the Elder ultimately died during the expedition.
The Latin phrase Fortuna Eruditis Favet ("fortune favours the prepared mind") is also used. Louis Pasteur, the French microbiologist and chemist, expressed this as: "Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés", meaning "In the fields of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind."
In The Prince , Niccolò Machiavelli remarked, "It is better to be adventurous than cautious," but extending the metaphor, "because fortune is a woman and . . . it is necessary to beat and ill-use her; and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by the adventurous." [6] [7]
The proverb may be a rewording of a line by Democritus that "boldness is the beginning of action, but fortune controls how it ends" (Ancient Greek : Τόλμα πρήξιος αρχή, τύχη δε τέλεος κυρίη, romanized: Tólma préxios arché, túche de téleos kuríe).
'Virtutis Fortuna Comes' (Fortune is the companion of virtue) is the unit motto of the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers; an Army Reserve unit based in Northern New South Wales (the Hunter River region, hence the name) and South East Queensland.
The motto for the GRUMEC (Brazilian Navy's special group) and COMANDOS ANFÍBIOS (Brazilian Marines special operations group) is "Fortuna Audaces Sequitur" (Fortune follows the brave – A sorte acompanha os audazes).
The quote "Fortes Fortuna Juvat" is used by the Jydske Dragonregiment, or Jutish Dragoon Regiment, in the Royal Danish Army. [8]
The latin version of the quote "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" is used as the motto of the 2nd Corps of the 471st Logistics Battalion (Logistikbataillon 471, 2. Kompanie) of the Bundeswehr.
The O'Flaherty clan has historically used the phrase "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" as a motto. [9]
The O'Keeffe family motto is “Forti et fideli nihil difficile” which translates as “For the brave and faithful, nothing is difficult”. [10]
The one of the McCarthy family mottos is also "Forti et fideli nihil difficile". [11]
The Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, also shared the motto "Virtutis Fortuna Comes".
The quote "Audentes fortuna iuvat" appears in the University of Milano Bicocca logo. [12]
"Fortuna Eruditis Favet" is the motto of Sunway University and Sunway College.
The motto is used by the Cornielje family of The Netherlands alongside their coat of arms. [13]
The Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) adopted the badge of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment of the British Army, along with the motto of the Duke of Wellington "Virtutis Fortuna Comes" (see United Kingdom below). The Regiment's traditions are now carried on by Wellington Company, 5th / 7th Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Also the motto of the Regular Force Cadets new Zealand
The motto for a tank regiment, 33rd Cavalry of Pakistan Armoured Corps.
The motto is used by the 6th Airborne Brigade (Poland).
The motto for the Portuguese commandos is "Audaces Fortuna Juvat" (A sorte protege os Audazes).
"audaces fortuna juvat" is the motto of the Naval Special Operations Forces known as FNOS or GNFOS.
The Motto is used by the Special Boat Squadron (Sri Lanka).
Because it was the motto of the Duke of Wellington, Earl of Mornington, Virtutis Fortuna Comes is used as the motto for the British Army's Yorkshire Regiment having been previously used by one of the Yorkshire's antecedent regiments, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding [33rd/76th Foot]). [14] It is also the motto for Wellington College, Berkshire. [15]
A number of armigerous families use this motto, often featured on their coats of arms; these families include Clan MacKinnon, [16] Clan Turnbull, [17] and several Dickson families, including a number resident in Forfarshire, and the Dickson Barons Islington. [18]
The phrase was used as the motto of the Royal Air Force station based at East Fortune, in East Lothian. The base was operational in the First World War and between 1940 and 1947. [19]
It is the motto of the football club Linfield F.C. in Belfast.
It is also the motto of Liverpool John Moores University. [20]
The Latin equivalent "Fortuna audentes juvat" is used as the motto for the Turing family, dating back to 1316 AD. [21]
Motto used by the 80th Fighter Squadron stationed at Kunsan AB, Republic of South Korea.[ citation needed ]
As "Fortes Fortuna Juvat",
"Fortuna Favet Fortibus" ("Fortune favors the brave")
"Audaces Fortuna Juvat"
"Fortes Fortuna Juvat"
"Audentes Fortuna Juvat"
"Fortuna favet audaci"
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America Army's 7th Alabama Cavalry displayed "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" on its flag. [25]
In the 1997 episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Favor the Bold", Ben Sisko says the phrase as the last line of the episode. He refers to it as an old saying.
In the 1986 film "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", Admiral James T. Kirk alters the phrase when setting off on a dangerous mission. He says "May fortune favor the foolish.".
A 1998 Flaming Carrot Comics collection was titled "Flaming Carrot Comics: Fortune Favors the Bold!".
In the movies John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2 , the title character bears a tattoo across his upper back reading "FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT". "Fortis" means both "strong" and "brave". Thus, the saying denotes "Fortune favors the strong and the courageous". It should also be mentioned that "adiuvat" means "help" and the saying can also be translated as "Fortune helps the strong and the courageous".
In the 2002 Film Gangs of New York , midway during the film, on election night, Boss Tweed yells out to the gathered crowd "Fortuna Juvat Audentes". Leading the chant back was the lead character, Amsterdam Vallon, and they replied in English "Fortune Favors the Bold".
In Episode 12 Season 2 of the anime The Faraway Paladin the spirits of the dwarven warriors chant this as a rallying war cry against the evil dragon Valacirca in support of Will William G. Mary blood and his brave party as they prepare to face off once more.
In the award-winning video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , while exploring the landscape, players can find and read a book entitled 'Unfinished Book'. Within the text of this book, the phrase "audentes fortuna iuvat!" can be found.
The motto of Trumbull College, one of Yale University’s undergraduate residential colleges, is this.
In 2021, Matt Damon appeared in an advertisement for Crypto.com encouraging investors using the proverb ("Fortune favors the bold") as a slogan. The advertisement was widely criticized, and it was frequently satirized by the animated series South Park , beginning in its twenty-fifth season. [26] [27]
The proverb also appears in the story trailer of the video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.
"Victory or death" and its equivalents, is used as a motto or battle cry.
Annuit cœptis is one of two mottos on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. The literal translation is "[He] favors [our] undertakings", from Latin annuo, and coeptum. Because of its context as a caption above the Eye of Providence, the standard translations are "Providence favors our undertakings" and "Providence has favored our undertakings."
Nemo me impune lacessit is the national motto of Scotland. It also served as the national motto of the historic Kingdom of Scotland prior to the Treaty of Union 1707.
Semper fidelis is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal". It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, usually shortened to Semper Fi. It is also in use as a motto for towns, families, schools, and other military units.
Fortuna is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at least the Renaissance. The blindfolded depiction of her is still an important figure in many aspects of today's Italian culture, where the dichotomy fortuna / sfortuna plays a prominent role in everyday social life, also represented by the very common refrain "La [dea] fortuna è cieca".
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Odes (III.2.13) by the Roman lyric poet Horace. The line translates: "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country." The Latin word patria (homeland), literally meaning the country of one's fathers or ancestors, is the source of the French word for a country, patrie, and of the English word "patriot".
Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his Aeneid: "sic itur ad astra" and "opta ardua pennis astra sequi". Another origin is Seneca the Younger, who wrote in Hercules: "non est ad astra mollis e terris via".
The Corps Hannovera Göttingen is one of the oldest German Student Corps, a Studentenverbindung or student corporation founded on January 18, 1809, at the Georg August University of Göttingen by Georg Kloss and his associates. The name was chosen because the founders had their home residences in the Kingdom of Hanover. As a corps it is a founding member (1848) of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV), the oldest governing body of such student associations in both Germany and Austria.
Hintonburg is a neighbourhood in Kitchissippi Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located west of the Downtown core. It is a historically working-class, predominantly residential neighbourhood, with a commercial strip located along Wellington Street West. It is home to the Parkdale Public Market, located along Parkdale Avenue, just north of Wellington. It is considered to be one of Ottawa's most "hipster" neighbourhoods.
The Commandos are a commando unit in the Portuguese Army. Presently, their parent unit is the Commando Regiment.
Dickson or, as is common in England, Dixon, is a patronymic surname, traditionally Scottish and thought to have originated upon the birth of the son of Richard Keith, son of Hervey de Keith, Earl Marischal of Scotland, and Margaret, daughter of the 3rd Lord of Douglas.
The 80th Fighter Squadron is a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter squadron of the United States Air Force, currently part of the 8th Operations Group of the 8th Fighter Wing, and stationed at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea.
A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb, first credited to Publilius Syrus, who in his Sententiae states, "People who are always moving, with no roots in one place or another, avoid responsibilities and cares." The phrase spawned a shorter mossless offshoot image, that of the rolling stone, and modern moral meanings have diverged, from similar themes such as used in the popular song "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", to a more complementary commentary on "freedom" from excessive rootedness, such as in the band The Rolling Stones.
The 9th Mounted Rifles Regiment was officially raised on March 17, 1911. It was one of 12 regionally based mounted rifles regiments formed as part of the new Territorial Force (TF) organisation that came into existence on that day. This part-time Territorial Force and a tiny regular force of professional soldiers formed the basis of New Zealand’s army at the outbreak of the First World War.
The INQ Chat 3G is a fully featured, 3G enabled "Candy Bar" smartphone created by the British manufacturer INQ, designed to easily interface with popular social media applications.
Flanagan is a common surname of Irish origin and an Anglicised version of the Irish name Ó Flannagáin which is derived from the word "flann" meaning 'red' or 'ruddy'.
The phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is a motto that emphasizes the importance of self-initiative and agency. The phrase originated in ancient Greece as "the gods help those who help themselves" and may originally have been proverbial. It is illustrated by two of Aesop's Fables and a similar sentiment is found in ancient Greek drama. Although it has been commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the modern English wording appears earlier in Algernon Sidney's work.
The 74th Infantry Regiment was a regular infantry regiment of the United States Army. There have been two units given the title '74th Infantry Regiment'; the first was a World War I unit of the 12th Division, and the second was a World War II unit formed with US Army personnel and equipment of the inactivating US-Canadian 1st Special Service Force "Devil's Brigade". This unit was first designated as the 474th Infantry Regiment, later redesignated as the 74th Infantry Regiment.
Audentis Fortuna iuvat, Fortune will help the brave, Fortune befriends the bold
Fortes fortuna adiuvat, fortune helps the brave