The story
This proverb comes from ancient Rome. One of its earliest appearances is in Phormio, a comedy by the playwright Terence, written in the second century BC.
In the play, a quick-witted servant named Geta urges a nervous young man to stand his ground: “fortes fortuna adiuvat,” fortune helps the brave. It’s a funny scene, not a grand battle speech, which makes the line’s long career all the more surprising.
The poet Virgil gave it a twist in the Aeneid: “audentis fortuna iuvat,” fortune helps the daring. Ovid stretched the idea further, writing that the goddess of love, like Fortune, favors the bold.
Over the centuries the saying settled into English as “fortune favors the bold,” or sometimes “fortune favors the brave.” It still carries the same idea: luck seldom comes to people who never try.
It isn’t a promise that boldness always pays. It’s an old observation that the people who step forward are the only ones in a position to get lucky.
