“People are our proper occupation,” he’d write during the plague.
No one would have faulted Marcus if he had done so too. When the Antonine Plague overwhelmed Rome, if you had the means to flee, you did. “Fortune favors the bold, head for Pomponianus.” As Pliny’s nephew recounted, what “he had begun in a spirit of inquiry he completed as a hero.” Tragically, Pliny did not survive. “‘ Fortes fortuna iuvat: Pomponianum pete, ’” he commanded.
” Do you know where that expression comes from? From Pliny, who refused to turn back. We talked before about how “ fortune favors the bold.
Assembling the fleet, Pliny rushed to the scene in utter fearlessness to rescue all those he could by boat.Īrriving, he found the shoreline blocked by debris. He planned to go investigate until a messenger came with urgent news from a friend trapped at the foot of the mountain. But Pliny the Elder, an admiral and amateur scientist, was immediately curious. Those who were far away could see only the plumes of smoke and ash. In the end, fortune is something that even the best of skills cannot interfere but there will be no fortune if there is no action towards it.As Mount Vesuvius erupted, those who could run away did. But yet again, you will have zero luck if you don’t shoot at all.Įven if you take your shot under the best of circumstances, it will still have the probability of not going in by a fraction. For example, the probability of a basketball shooter taking shot under the ring with closer and clearer look will have better probability for the ball to go in to the basket than if he has to shoot from the three-point line. There are things to do that may improve your probability on getting the result you wanted, but others may decrease it. Your action and luck is something different yet inseparable. There is no real certainty on whether we will have a good or bad luck.
We say “good luck” as we perceive it as a positive note to what would happen next, and vice versa. Meanwhile being bold may be defined as taking action without hesitation (well, at least on a minimum.) I see this quote as a motivation to be brave and daring on making decisions as we go, because if we stay put and don’t do anything there will be no luck for us. The way I see it, this proverb means that fortune or luck will come to those who are willing to be bold.
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