“Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them.”

—  Suzanne Curchod

Reported in "The Viking Book of Aphorisms: A Personal Selection" By Wystan Hugh Auden, Louis Kronenberger (1981)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2024. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them." by Suzanne Curchod?
Suzanne Curchod photo
Suzanne Curchod 6
French-Swiss salonist and writer 1737–1794

Related quotes

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël photo

“Men do not change; they unmask themselves.”

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766–1817) Swiss author

Quoted in Invasion of the Party Snatchers : How the Holy-Rollers and the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP (2008) by Victor Gold

Henry Ford photo

“Money doesn't change men. It merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish, or arrogant, or greedy, the money brings it out; that's all.”

Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist

Interview with Bruce Barton, "It Would Be Fun To Start Over Again," The American Magazine, April 1921

Livy photo

“Fortune blinds men when she does not wish them to withstand the violence of her onslaughts.”

Livy (-59–17 BC) Roman historian

Book V, sec. 37
History of Rome

“Jade and men are both shaped by harsh tools; be not unaware of sudden changes of fortune.”

Andre Norton (1912–2005) American writer of science fiction and fantasy

Source: Dragon Magic (1972), Chapter 5, “Shui Mien Lung—Slumbering Dragon” (p. 158)

William Godwin photo

“The man that does not know himself not to be at the mercy of other men, that does not feel that he is invulnerable to all the vicissitudes of fortune, is incapable of a constant and inflexible virtue.”

William Godwin (1756–1836) English journalist, political philosopher and novelist

Book V, "Of Education"
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793)

Pliny the Younger photo

“Prosperity proves men to be fortunate, while it is adversity which makes them great.”
Secunda felices, adversa magnos probent.

Pliny the Younger (61–113) Roman writer

XXXI.
Panegyricus

Jane Austen photo

“But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.”

Jane Austen book Mansfield Park

Source: Mansfield Park (1814)

Posidonius photo

“There are never any occasions when you need think yourself safe because you wield the weapons of Fortune; fight with your own! Fortune does not furnish arms against herself; hence men equipped against their foes are unarmed against Fortune herself.”

Posidonius (-135–-51 BC) ancient greek philosopher

As quoted in Epistulae morales ad Lucilium by Seneca, Epistle CXIII (trans. R. M. Gummere)

Tanith Lee photo

“Destiny or gods or fortune—whatever one is pleased or innocent enough to call them—they seal men to their decree.”

Tanith Lee book Quest for the White Witch

Book Two, Part I “In the Wilderness”, Chapter 2 (p. 240)
Quest for the White Witch (1978)

Plautus photo

“According as men thrive, their friends are true; if their affairs go to wreck, their friends sink with them. Fortune finds friends.”
Ut cuique homini res parata est, firmi amici sunt : si res labat, itidem amici collabascunt. Res amicos invenit.

Plautus Stichus

Variant translation: According as men thrive, their friends are true; if fortune fails, friends likewise disappear. Prosperity finds friends. (translator unknown)
Stichus (The Parasite Rebuffed)

Related topics