Success, the mark no mortal wit,
Or surest hand, can always hit:
For whatsoe'er we perpetrate,
read more

Success, the mark no mortal wit,
Or surest hand, can always hit:
For whatsoe'er we perpetrate,
We do but row, we're steer'd by Fate,
Which in success oft disinherits,
For spurious causes, noblest merits.

Rowe's Rule: the odds are five to six that the light at the end
of the tunnel is the read more

Rowe's Rule: the odds are five to six that the light at the end
of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.

Yet what are they, the learned and the great?
Awhile of longer wonderment the theme!
Who shall read more

Yet what are they, the learned and the great?
Awhile of longer wonderment the theme!
Who shall presume to prophesy their date,
Where nought is certain save the uncertainty of fate?
- Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher,

Kabira wept when he beheld the millstone roll,
Of that which passes 'twixt the stones, nought goes forth whole.
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Kabira wept when he beheld the millstone roll,
Of that which passes 'twixt the stones, nought goes forth whole.
- Edward B. Eastwick,

Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall.

Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall.

'Tis Fate that flings the dice,
And as she flings
Of kings makes peasants,
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'Tis Fate that flings the dice,
And as she flings
Of kings makes peasants,
And of peasants kings.

Each man is the architect of his own fate.

Each man is the architect of his own fate.

Fate chooses our relatives, we choose our friends.

Fate chooses our relatives, we choose our friends.

No power or virtue of man could ever have deserved that what has
been fated should not have taken read more

No power or virtue of man could ever have deserved that what has
been fated should not have taken place.
[Lat., Nulla vis humana vel virtus meruisse unquam potuit, ut,
quod praescripsit fatalis ordo, non fiat.]