It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)
Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).
Quotations about:
good fortune
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
CHORUS: Goodbye! Good luck! If you can, be lucky, steer clear of disaster. That’s happiness for mortals.
[ΧΟΡΟΣ: χαίρετε: χαίρειν δ᾽ ὅστις δύναται
καὶ ξυντυχίᾳ μή τινι κάμνει
θνητῶν, εὐδαίμονα πράσσει.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 1357ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)
Closing lines.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Farewell. And sure the man
To whom this wish is granted, he who feels
No pressure of calamity, is blest.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Farewell! Any mortal who is able to fare well, and is not worn down by any misfortune, achieves happiness.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Farewell; but whosoever of mortals is able to fare well, and bends not under some misfortune, fares happily.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Farewell! Ah, whosoe'er may know this blessing,
To fare well, never crushed 'neath ills oppressing,
Alone of mortals tastes abiding bliss.
[tr. Way (1896)]Farewell, farewell! -- But he who can so fare,
And stumbleth not on mischief anywhere,
Blessèd on earth is he!
[tr. Murray (1905)]Farewell! truly that mortal's is a happy lot, who can thus fare, unafflicted bv any woe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]Good bye. Blessed is the human who can live happily without the weight of suffering.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]Farewell. Any mortal who can indeed live well
without being ground down by misfortune,
that man will find his happiness.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]
When I contemplate the common lot of mortality, I must acknowledge that I have drawn a high prize in the lottery of life. The far greater part of the globe is overspread with barbarism or slavery: in the civilized world the most numerous class is condemned to ignorance and poverty; and the double fortune of my birth in a free and enlightened country, in an honourable and wealthy family, is the lucky chance of an unit against millions.
Diligence is the Mother of Good-Luck.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1736 ed.)
(Source)
A little House well fill’d, a little Field well till’d, and a little Wife well will’d, are great Riches.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1735 ed.)
(Source)
As with so many other proverbs, Franklin did not originate it, just presented it as Poor Richard's own.
The oldest version of this is handwritten (at the same time period) in a copy of the Grete Herball (1526), found by William Hazlitt in the late 19th C:A little house well filled,
A little land well tilled,
And a little wife well willed,
Are great riches.
It was likely known before then. Subsequent to that, a version was included by John Ray in his Compleat English Proverbs [Ray's Proverbs] (1670):A little house well fill'd,
a little land well till'd,
and a little wife well will'd.
It was later adapted by James Hook as "A little Farm well till'd," in the comic opera, The Soldier's Return (1805), the first lines of which read:A little Farm well tilled,
A little Cot well filled,
A little Wife well will'd,
Give me, give me.
Since Joys are so uncertain; take Gladness when it comes.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 101 (1725)
(Source)
We must learn to suffer whatever we cannot avoid. Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of discords as well as of different tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, soft and loud. If a musician liked only some of them, what could he sing? He has got to know how to use all of them and blend them together. So too must we with good and ill, which are of one substance with our life. Without such blending our being cannot be: one category is no less necessary than the other.
[Il faut apprendre à souffrir, ce qu’on ne peut eviter. Nostre vie est composee, comme l’harmonie du monde, de choses contraires, aussi de divers tons, doux & aspres, aigus & plats, mols & graves : Le Musicien qui n’en aymeroit que les uns, que voudroit il dire ? Il faut qu’il s’en sçache servir en commun, & les mesler. Et nous aussi, les biens & les maux, qui sont consubstantiels à nostre vie. Nostre estre ne peut sans ce meslange, & y est l’une bande non moins necessaire que l’autre. ]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essay (1587), “Of Experience [De l’Experience], Essays, Book 3, ch. 13 (3.13) (1595) [tr. Screech (1987)]
(Source)
This essay and this quotation were both first present in the 2nd (1588) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:A man must learne to endure that patiently, which he cannot avoyde conveniently. Our life is composed, as is the harmonie of the World, of contrary things; so of divers tunes, some pleasant, some harsh, some sharpe, some flat, some low and some high: What would that Musition say, that should love but some one of them? He ought to know how to use them severally and how to entermingle them. So should we both of goods and evils, which are consubstantiall to our life. Our being cannot subsist without this commixture, whereto one side is no lesse necessarie than the other.
[tr. Florio (1603)]We must learn to suffer what we cannot evade. Our Life, like the Harmony of the World, is compos'd of contrary Things, of several Notes, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, spritely and solemn, and the Musician who should only affect one fo these, what would he be able to do? He must know how to make use of them all, and to mix them; and we likewise the Goods and Evils which are consubstantial with Life: Our Being cannot subsist without this Mixture, and the one are no less necessary to it than the other.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]We must learn to suffer what we cannot evade; our life, like the harmony of the world, is composed of contrary things -- of diverse tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, sprightly and solemn: the musician who should only affect some of these, what would he be able to do? he must know how to make use of them all, and to mix them; and so we should mingle the goods and evils which are consubstantial with our life; our being cannot subsist without this mixture, and the one part is no less necessary to it than the other.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]We must learn to suffer what can not be avoided. Our life, like teh harmony of the world, is composed of contrary things, also of diverse tones, sweet and harsh, keen and dull, soft and solemn. If a musician should like only some of them, what would it mean? It is necessary for him to know how to employ them all in common, and blend them; and so must we the goods and ills which are consubstantial with our life.
[tr. Ives (1925)]We must learn to endure what we cannot avoid. Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of contrary things, also of different tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, soft and loud. If a musician liked only one kind, what would he have to say? He must know how to use them together and blend them. And so must we do with good and evil, which are consubstantial with our life. Our existence is impossible without this mixture, and one element is no less necessary for it than the other.
[tr. Frame (1943)]One must learn to endure what one cannot avoid. Our life, like the harmony of the world, is composed of contrarieties, also of varying tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, soft and loud. If a musician liked one sort only, what effect would he make? He must be able to employ them together and blend them. And we too must accept the good and evil that are consubstantial with our life. Our existence is impossible without this mixture, and one side is no less necessary to us than the other.
[tr. Cohen (1958)]
