No wind serves him who has no port of destination.

[Nul vent fait pour celuy qui n’a point de port destiné. ]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 1 (2.1), “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions [De l’inconstance de nos actions]” (1572) [tr. Zeitlin (1934)]
    (Source)

This passage was in the essays initial 1580 printing. Likely from a quotation of Seneca the Younger (1st C AD).

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

No winde makes for him, that hath no intended port to saile-unto.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

No helpe serves him that runnes uncertain courses (or knows not where to end them).
[tr. Cotgrave (1611)]

No wind serves him who is bound to no certain port.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

No wind is fair for him who has no purposed port.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

No wind works for the man who has no port of destination.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

No wind is right for a seaman who has no predetermined harbour.
[tr. Screech (1987)]


 
Added on 10-Jun-26 | Last updated 10-Jun-26
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