Fortune favours the bold facts for kids
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat and the variations thereof is a common Latin proverb, typically translated as "Fortune favours the bold", "Fortune favours the brave" etc.. It is widely used as a slogan throughout Western civilization and history to emphasize concepts of courage and bravery, such as within various military organizations, and it is used up to the present on the coats of arms of individual families and clans.
Background
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 audentes Fortuna iuvat, audentes Fortuna adiuvat, Fortuna audaces iuvat, and audentis Fortuna iuvat. This last form is used by Turnus, an antagonist in the Aeneid by Virgil. Fortuna refers to luck or its personification, a Roman goddess.
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. Ovid further parodies 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.'") 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, made this remark: "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 adding, "it is necessary to beat and ill-use her; and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by the adventurous."
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).
Historical examples
United Kingdom
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]). It is also the motto for Wellington College, Berkshire.
A number of armigerous families use this motto, often featured on their coats of arms; these families include Clan MacKinnon, Clan Turnbull, and several Dickson families, including a number resident in Forfarshire, and the Dickson Barons Islington.
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.
It is the motto of the football club Linfield F.C. in Belfast.
It is also the motto of Liverpool John Moores University.
The Latin equivalent "Fortuna audentes juvat" is used as the motto for the Turing family, dating back to 1316 AD.
United States
As "Fortes Fortuna Juvat",
- it appears on the crest of the 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
- it is on the seal of the Joint Maritime Training Center, known in the United States Coast Guard as the Special Missions Training Center.
- it is the official motto of the United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 1982.
"Fortuna Favet Fortibus" ("Fortune favors the brave")
- is the official motto of the United States Naval Academy Classes of 1985, 2004, and 2012.
"Audaces Fortuna Juvat"
- is the official motto of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1992.
"Fortes Fortuna Juvat"
- is the unit motto for 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, stationed out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
- appears on the gates of Honor Hill at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
- has been the motto of several United States Navy ships:
- USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7). The motto appears on the ship's insignia.
- USS La Jolla (SSN-701)
- USS Florida (SSGN-728), after her conversion from an SSBN to a SSGN.
- USS Montpelier (SSN-765)
- USS John S. McCain (DDG-56)
"Audentes Fortuna Juvat"
- is used by the 366th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force and appears on the wing patch. The motto is also used by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 3rd Field Investigation Region, Detachment 327, Little Rock Air Force Base.
- is the motto of the 80th Fighter Squadron (The Headhunters) stationed out of Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea.
- is the unit motto for 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, stationed out of Marine Corps Camp Lejeune, NC.
- is also used on the Seattle Police Department's SWAT unit patch.
- is the squadron motto for US Navy Growler Squadron VAQ-209, stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, WA.
"Fortuna favet audaci"
- is the motto of Trumbull College of Yale University.
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America Army's 7th Alabama Cavalry displayed "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" on its flag.
See also
- God helps those who help themselves
- Who Dares Wins
