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#misfortune — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #misfortune, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. A quotation from Homer

    And, oh! whate’er Heaven destined to betide,
       Let neither flattery soothe, nor pity hide.
    Prepared I stand: he was but born to try
       The lot of man; to suffer, and to die.
     
    [πέρι γάρ μιν ὀιζυρὸν τέκε μήτηρ.
    μηδέ τί μ᾽ αἰδόμενος μειλίσσεο μηδ᾽ ἐλεαίρων,
    ἀλλ᾽ εὖ μοι κατάλεξον ὃπως ἤντησας ὀπωπῆς.]

    Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
    The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 3, l. 96ff (3.96) (c. 700 BC) [tr. Pope (1725), l. 114ff]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/49946/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #homer #odyssey #telemachus #odysseus #brutallyhonest #candor #destiny #doom #fate #honesty #meaningoflife #misfortune #mortality #suffering #death

  2. A quotation from Abigail Adams

    Of all pride, that which persons discover from Riches is the weakest. If we look over our acquaintance, how many do we find who were a few years ago in affluence, now reduced to real want.

    Abigail Adams (1744-1818) American correspondent, First Lady (1797-1801)
    Letter (1790-02-20) to Mary Smith Cranch

    More about this quote: wist.info/adams-abigail/84757/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abigailadams #badluck #change #ego #fortune #misfortune #pride #riches #socialstatus #status #wealth

  3. A quotation from Homer

    My word, how mortals take the gods to task!
    All their afflictions come from us, we hear.
    And what of their own failings? Greed and folly
    double the suffering in the lot of man.
     
    [ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται.
    ἐξ ἡμέων γάρ φασι κάκ’ ἔμμεναι· οἱ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ
    σφῇσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὑπὲρ μόρον ἄλγε’ ἔχουσιν.]

    Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
    The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 1, l. 32ff (1.32) [Zeus] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Fitzgerald (1961)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/46564/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #homer #odyssey #accountability #blame #deflection #destiny #divinepunishment #divinewill #excuse #fate #freewill #gods #justdeserts #karma #misfortune #responsibility #selfdestruction #selfinflictedwound #troubles

  4. A quotation from Horace

    But like a general, a host displays
    his genius best under disaster.
     
    [Sed convivatoris uti ducis ingenium res
    Adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.]

    Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 8 “Ut Nasidieni,” l. 73ff (2.8.73-74) (30 BC) [tr. Matthews (2002)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/1956/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #adversity #army #badfortune #badluck #battle #commander #dinner #entertainment #general #gettogether #goodfortune #goodluck #host #meme #misfortune #party #troubles

  5. #misfortune : bad luck

    - French: malheur

    - German: das Missgeschick

    - Italian: disgrazia

    - Portuguese: desgraça, infortúnio

    - Spanish: desgracia

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    Try our new word guessing game @ 24hippos.com

  6. A quotation from Churchill

    Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated War Offices, weak, incompetent, or arrogant Commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant Fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations — all take their seats at the Council Board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Always remember, however sure you are that you could easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.

    Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
    My Early Life: A Roving Commission, ch. 18 “With Buller to the Cape” (1930)

    More about this quote: wist.info/churchill-winston/11…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #churchill #winstonchurchill #control #declarationofwar #error #events #expectations #fortune #hubris #misfortune #overconfidence #perspective #presumption #surprises #uncontrolled #unexpected #victory #war

  7. Kyiv groans collective #WTF? to Trump’s latest #Putin comments

    #Trump's claim Putin “kept his word” by not launching missile & drone strikes against #Ukraine's #energy #infrastructure for a week has met with bewilderment & dismay in #Kyiv

    "I believe this is either a #mockery of our #misfortune, a lack of understanding of the situation, or wishful thinking," lawmaker from opposition European Solidarity party

    kyivindependent.com/kyiv-groan

    #DementiaDon #TrumpIsARussianAsset #dictator #tyrant #war

  8. #misfortune : bad fortune or luck

    - French: malheur

    - German: das Missgeschick

    - Italian: disgrazia

    - Portuguese: desgraça, infortúnio

    - Spanish: desgracia

    ------------

    Try our new word guessing game @ 24hippos.com

  9. A quotation from C. C. Colton

    Rats and conquerors must expect no mercy in misfortune.

    Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
    Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 400 (1820)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/colton-charles-caleb…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cccolton #badluck #conqueror #conquest #consequences #mercilessness #mercy #misfortune #rats #troubles #vermin #retribution

  10. A quotation from Christopher Marlowe

    CHORUS:                                            His Second Part,
       Where Death cuts off the progress of his pomp
       And murderous Fates throw all his triumphs down.

    Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
    Tamburlaine the Great, Part 2, “Prologue,” ll. 3-5 (c. 1587)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/marlowe-christopher/…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ChristopherMarlowe #KitMarlowe #badluck #death #fate #misfortune #mortality #overturn #prologue #triumph

  11. #misfortune : bad fortune or luck

    - French: malheur

    - German: das Missgeschick

    - Italian: disgrazia

    - Portuguese: desgraça, infortúnio

    - Spanish: desgracia

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    Word of The Hour's Annual Survey @ wordofthehour.org/r/form

  12. A quotation from Euripides

    HELEN: When a man broods on a single misfortune and feels the gods are against him, though his suffering is real, it can be borne; but I am crushed by innumerable blows at once.
     
    [ἙΛΈΝΗ: ὅστις μὲν οὖν ἐς μίαν ἀποβλέπων τύχην
       πρὸς θεῶν κακοῦται, βαρὺ μέν, οἰστέον δ᾽ ὅμως:
       ἡμεῖς δὲ πολλαῖς συμφοραῖς ἐγκείμεθα.]

    Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
    Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 267ff (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/euripides/78476/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #bearingup #crises #endurance #misfortune #overwhelmed #problems #troubles

  13. A quotation from Stephen King

    The horror writer always brings bad news: you’re going to die, he says; he’s telling you to never mind Oral Roberts and his “something good is going to happen to you,” because something bad is also going to happen to you, and it may be cancer and it may be a stroke, and it may be a car accident, but it’s going to happen. And he takes your hand and he enfolds it in his own, and he takes you into the room and he puts your hands on the shape under the sheet … and tells you to touch it here … here … and here …

    Stephen King (b. 1947) American author
    Night Shift, Foreword (1978)

    Sourcing, notes: wist.info/king-stephen/78294/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #stephenking #badluck #badnews #fiction #horror #misfortune #writing

  14. A quotation from Samuel Johnson

    The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated.

    Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
    Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Pope” (1781)

    Sourcing, notes: wist.info/johnson-samuel/26251…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #aggravation #evil #humancondition #irritation #misery #misfortune #repetition #unhappiness #vexation #weardown

  15. A quotation from Victor Hugo

    Be like the bird, who
    Halting in his flight
    On limb too slight
    Feels it give way beneath him,
    Yet sings
    Knowing he hath wings.
     
    [Soyez comme l’oiseau, posé pour un instant
    Sur des rameaux trop frêles,
    Qui sent ployer la branche et qui chante pourtant,
    Sachant qu’il a des ailes!]

    Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
    Poem (1836), “In the Church of *** [Dans l’eglise de ***],” Songs of Dusk [Les chants du crepuscule], # 33 sec. 6

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/hugo-victor/40547/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #poetry #bird #confidence #danger #heaven #hope #meme #misfortune #optimism #salvation #singing #threat #selfconfidence

  16. A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

    Our minds are better employed in bearing the misfortunes that do befall us than in foreseeing those that may.
     
    [Il vaut mieux employer notre esprit à supporter les infortunes qui nous arrivent qu’à prévoir celles qui nous peuvent arriver.]

    François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
    Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶174 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #concern #facereality #focus #future #meme #misfortune #possibility #present #problemsolving #problems #reality #speculation #troubles #worry #immediacy

  17. A quotation from Horace

    O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
    Why make such game of this poor life of ours?
     
    [Heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos
    Te Deus? Ut semper gaudes illudere rebus
    Humanis!]

    Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 8, “Ut Nasidieni,” l. 61ff (2.8.61-63) (30 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/horace/78146/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #badfortune #badluck #cruelty #fate #fortune #goodfortune #goodluck #humancondition #luck #misfortune

  18. A quotation from Horace

    But like a general, a host displays
    his genius best under disaster.
     
    [Sed convivatoris uti ducis ingenium res
    Adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.]

    Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 8, “Ut Nasidieni,” l. 73ff (2.8.73-74) (30 BC) [tr. Matthews (2002)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/horace/1956/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #adversity #army #badfortune #badluck #battle #commander #dinner #entertainment #general #gettogether #goodfortune #goodluck #host #misfortune #party #troubles

  19. A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

    Finally, in every event which leads you to sorrow, remember to use this principle: that this is not a misfortune, but that to bear it like a brave man is good fortune.
     
    [μέμνησο λοιπὸν ἐπὶ παντὸς τοῦ εἰς λύπην σε προαγομένου τούτῳ χρῆσθαι τῷ δόγματι: οὐχ ὅτι τοῦτο ἀτύχημα, ἀλλὰ τὸ φέρειν αὐτὸ γενναίως εὐτύχημα.]

    Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
    Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 4, ch. 49 (4.49) (AD 161-180) [tr. Farquharson (1944)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/1720…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marcusaurelius #marcusaureliusmeditations #accident #backluck #bitterness #courage #distress #endurance #endure #goodfortune #goodluck #misfortune #opportunity #sorrow #stoic #unhappiness

  20. A quotation from John Adams

    The Stream of Life sometimes glides smoothly on, through flowry meadows and enamell’d planes. At other times it draggs a winding reluctant Course through offensive Boggs and dismal gloomy Swamps. The same road now leads us thro’ a spacious Country fraught with evry delightful object, Then plunges us at once, into miry Sloughs, or stops our passage with craggy and inaccessible mountains. The free roving Songster of the forest, now rambles unconfin’d, and hopps from Spray to Spray but the next hour perhaps he alights to pick the scattered Grain and is entangled in the Snare. The Ship, which, wafted by a favourable gale, sails prosperously upon the peaceful Surface, by a sudden Change of weather may be tossed by the Tempest, and driven by furious, opposite winds, upon rocks or quicksands. In short nothing in this world enjoys a constant Series of Joy and prosperity.

    John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
    Diary (1756-03-27)

    Sourcing, notes: wist.info/adams-john/30195/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #humancondition #struggle #change #difficulty #disaster #fortune #joy #life #metaphor #misfortune #problems #prosperity #troubles #variability

  21. A quotation from Cicero

    Men ought to feel most annoyed with what has been brought about by their own fault.
     
    [Ea molestissime ferre homines debent quae ipsorum culpa contracta sunt.]

    Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
    Epistulae ad Fratrem Quintum [Letters to His Brother Quintus], Book 1, Letter 1, sec. 3 (1.1.3) (60 BC) [tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #annoyance #blame #consequences #distress #error #fault #guilt #misfortune #selfcriticism #suffering #vexation

  22. #misfortune : bad fortune or luck

    - French: malheur

    - German: das Missgeschick

    - Italian: disgrazia

    - Portuguese: desgraça, infortúnio

    - Spanish: desgracia

    ------------

    Word of The Hour's Annual Survey @ wordofthehour.org/r/form

  23. A quotation from Horace

    I know, you always come out on top, the great exception.
    Well, someday your enemies will laugh and laugh. Consider:
    life is full of changes, and who can stand them better? A man
    who treats his body and proud mind to luxury, addicting them,
    or someone used to little, and to thinking of the future,
    a man wise in peacetime, preparing then the tools of war?
     
    [Uni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res,
    o magnus posthac inimicis risus. Uterne
    ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius? Hic qui
    pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum,
    an qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri
    in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello?]

    Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
    Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 2, “Quae virtus et quanta,” l. 106ff (2.2.106-111) (30 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/horace/76560/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #adaptability #badluck #contingency #defense #investment #misfortune #overoptimism #peace #planning #pragmatism #preparation #war

  24. A quotation from C. C. Colton

    Most of our misfortunes are more supportable than the comments of our friends upon them.

    Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
    Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 517 (1820)

    Sourcing, notes: wist.info/colton-charles-caleb…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #accident #advice #aggravation #badluck #commentary #error #friends #misfortune #peanutgallery

  25. this needs a weekly boost i reckon :thisisfinefire: :stabbycat: re #chauvinism #decadence and #wealth built from #slavery and #misfortune of others

  26. A quotation from Euripides

    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)]

    Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/euripides/75110/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #avoidance #badluck #disaster #goodfortune #goodluck #happiness #misfortune