---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow…"
description: "\"“Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow she had summoned and flushed Myrna minx from a subway tube, from some picket line, from the pungent bed of some..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/john-kennedy-toole-4650_bohemians_fortuna-wished-to-make-amends-somehow-sh_1145996.jpg"
---

#  Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow she had summoned…

![“Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow she had summoned and flushed Myrna minx from a subway tube, from some picket line, from the pungent bed of some Eurasian existentialist, from the hands of some epileptic Negro Buddhist, from the verbose midst of a group therapy session.” quote by John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/john-kennedy-toole-4650_bohemians_fortuna-wished-to-make-amends-somehow-sh_1145996.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/john-kennedy-toole-4650_bohemians_fortuna-wished-to-make-amends-somehow-sh_1145996.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/john-kennedy-toole-4650_bohemians_fortuna-wished-to-make-amends-somehow-sh_1145996.jpg)

> ““Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow she had summoned and flushed Myrna minx from a subway tube, from some picket line, from the pungent bed of some Eurasian existentialist, from the hands of some epileptic Negro Buddhist, from the verbose midst of a group therapy session.””

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A chaotic, surreal narrative describes a series of absurd rescues and misplacements, highlighting the randomness of fate.

**In simple terms:** Fate’s bizarre twists move a character through odd situations.

Key Takeaway

Accept the absurdity of life.

Themes

fate absurdity chaos literature

Mood

wry reflective melancholic

Type

satirical philosophical

When to use this quote

- urban life
- personal crisis
- social commentary
- mental health
- cultural identity

Key Concepts

existentialism satire

Questions to Reflect On

- What does the randomness reveal about control?
- How does satire expose societal flaws?

A Different Perspective

The humor may mask deeper suffering.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bohemians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bohemians/) [Fortuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortuna/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Making amends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-amends/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/)

## Related quotes

> [When Fortuna spins you downward, go out to a movie and get more out of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/when-fortuna-spins-you-downward-go-out-to-a-movie-and-get-more-out-of/)

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> [“So we see that even when Fortuna spins us downward, the wheel sometimes halts for a moment and we find ourselves in a good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/so-we-see-that-even-when-fortuna-spins-us-downward-the-wheel/)

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> [Oh, Fortuna, you capricious sprite!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/oh-fortuna-you-capricious-sprite/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [Oh, Fortuna, blind, heedless goddess, I am strapped to your wheel,' Ignatius belched, 'Do not crush me beneath your spokes. Raise me on high,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/oh-fortuna-blind-heedless-goddess-i-am-strapped-to-your-wheel/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [Art is based on order. The world is full of 'sloppy Bohemians' and their work betrays them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/art-is-based-on-order-the-world-is-full-of-sloppy-bohemians-and-their/)

[Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/)

> [“I know writers like to think of themselves as bohemians,' he said, 'but that doesn't mean they can't behave like decent human beings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gert-loveday/i-know-writers-like-to-think-of-themselves-as-bohemians-he-said-but/)

Gert Loveday

> [My guitarist husband, Mike, and writer me are the old-fashioned kind of bohemians. Not 'fro-haired hipsters gyrating in iPod ads, but the sort who,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/my-guitarist-husband-mike-and-writer-me-are-the-old-fashioned-kind-of/)

[Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/)

> [My mother actually left American in 1929 to be part of an alternative community of bohemians around her then father-in-law who was a well-known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/my-mother-actually-left-american-in-1929-to-be-part-of-an-alternative/)

[Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/)

> [“Bohemians. These Bohemians, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Williams, and their seven children, Biff, Tina, Sparky, Louise, Tuffy, Mickey, and Biff Number Two, lived in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/bohemians-these-bohemians-mr-and-mrs-clarence-williams-and-their/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [“At any rate, they were strange fellows, these bohemians. They lounged around doing nothing and told you they were working; they were frightfully miserable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dezs-kosztol-nyi/at-any-rate-they-were-strange-fellows-these-bohemians-they-lounged/)

[Dezső Kosztolányi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dezs-kosztol-nyi/)

> [English Bohemianism is a curiously unluscious fruit. ... Inside this hothouse, huge lascivious orchids slide sensuously up the sweating windows, passion-flowers cross-pollinate in wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-coren/english-bohemianism-is-a-curiously-unluscious-fruit-inside-this/)

[Alan Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-coren/)

> [I guess I was the most unbohemian of all bohemians. My bohemianism consisted of not wanting to get involved with the stupid stuff that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/i-guess-i-was-the-most-unbohemian-of-all-bohemians-my-bohemianism/)

[Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/)

> [I never saw so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-looking Bohemians in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-never-saw-so-many-well-dressed-well-fed-business-looking-bohemians/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [I think the New Bohemians' inability to say no was a big part of our problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-brickell/i-think-the-new-bohemians-inability-to-say-no-was-a-big-part-of-our/)

[Edie Brickell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-brickell/)

> [“We are all of us balanced on Fortuna's wheel, clinging as best we can lest we tumble needlessly into Fata's dark maw. Yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-poole/we-are-all-of-us-balanced-on-fortuna-s-wheel-clinging-as-best-we-can/)

[Sara Poole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-poole/)

## More by John Kennedy Toole

> [“Myrna was not astigmatic; the lenses were clear glass; she wore the glasses to prove her dedication and intensity of purpose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/myrna-was-not-astigmatic-the-lenses-were-clear-glass-she-wore-the/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“She ran into the bathroom and powdered her face and the front of her dress, drew a surrealistic version of a mouth beneath her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/she-ran-into-the-bathroom-and-powdered-her-face-and-the-front-of-her/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Is it the part of the police department to harass me when this city is a flagrant vice capital of the civilized world?" Ignatius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/is-it-the-part-of-the-police-department-to-harass-me-when-this-city/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [employers sense in me a denial of their values...they fear me. i suspect that they can see that i am forced to function in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/employers-sense-in-me-a-denial-of-their-values-they-fear-me-i-suspect/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Do I believe the total perversion that I am witnessing?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/do-i-believe-the-total-perversion-that-i-am-witnessing/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [Between notes, he had contemplated means of destroying Myrna Minkoff but had reached no satisfactory conclusion. His most promising scheme had involved getting a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/between-notes-he-had-contemplated-means-of-destroying-myrna-minkoff/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“I suspect that beneath your offensively and vulgarly effeminate façade there may be a soul of sorts. Have you read widely in Boethius?" "Who?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-suspect-that-beneath-your-offensively-and-vulgarly-effeminate-fa/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-am-at-the-moment-writing-a-lengthy-indictment-against-our-century/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“In my private apocalypse he will be impaled upon his own nightstick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/in-my-private-apocalypse-he-will-be-impaled-upon-his-own-nightstick/)

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> [Psycho? The woman's senile. We had to stop at about thirty gas stations on the way over here. Finally I got tired of getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/psycho-the-woman-s-senile-we-had-to-stop-at-about-thirty-gas-stations/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-mingle-with-my-peers-or-no-one-and-since-i-have-no-peers-i-mingle/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Hey! All you peoples draggin along here. Stop and come stick your ass on a Night of Joy stool," he started again. "Night of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/hey-all-you-peoples-draggin-along-here-stop-and-come-stick-your-ass/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/schiller-needed-the-scent-of-apples-rotting-in-his-desk-in-order-to/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Every difficult work presents us with a choice of whether to judge the author inept for not being clear, or ourselves stupid for not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/every-difficult-work-presents-us-with-a-choice-of-whether-to-judge/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

> [“Had you ‘artists’ had a part in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, it would have ended up looking like a particularly vulgar train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/had-you-artists-had-a-part-in-the-decoration-of-the-sistine-chapel-it/)

[John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

[Explore all 102 John Kennedy Toole quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/)

## More Bohemians quotes

> [I think the New Bohemians' inability to say no was a big part of our problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-brickell/i-think-the-new-bohemians-inability-to-say-no-was-a-big-part-of-our/)

[Edie Brickell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-brickell/)

> [I never saw so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-looking Bohemians in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-never-saw-so-many-well-dressed-well-fed-business-looking-bohemians/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [I guess I was the most unbohemian of all bohemians. My bohemianism consisted of not wanting to get involved with the stupid stuff that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/i-guess-i-was-the-most-unbohemian-of-all-bohemians-my-bohemianism/)

[Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/)

> [English Bohemianism is a curiously unluscious fruit. ... Inside this hothouse, huge lascivious orchids slide sensuously up the sweating windows, passion-flowers cross-pollinate in wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-coren/english-bohemianism-is-a-curiously-unluscious-fruit-inside-this/)

[Alan Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-coren/)

> [“Bohemians. These Bohemians, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Williams, and their seven children, Biff, Tina, Sparky, Louise, Tuffy, Mickey, and Biff Number Two, lived in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/bohemians-these-bohemians-mr-and-mrs-clarence-williams-and-their/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [My mother actually left American in 1929 to be part of an alternative community of bohemians around her then father-in-law who was a well-known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/my-mother-actually-left-american-in-1929-to-be-part-of-an-alternative/)

[Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/)

> [My guitarist husband, Mike, and writer me are the old-fashioned kind of bohemians. Not 'fro-haired hipsters gyrating in iPod ads, but the sort who,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/my-guitarist-husband-mike-and-writer-me-are-the-old-fashioned-kind-of/)

[Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/)

> [“I know writers like to think of themselves as bohemians,' he said, 'but that doesn't mean they can't behave like decent human beings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gert-loveday/i-know-writers-like-to-think-of-themselves-as-bohemians-he-said-but/)

Gert Loveday

> [Art is based on order. The world is full of 'sloppy Bohemians' and their work betrays them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/art-is-based-on-order-the-world-is-full-of-sloppy-bohemians-and-their/)

[Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/)

> [“At any rate, they were strange fellows, these bohemians. They lounged around doing nothing and told you they were working; they were frightfully miserable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dezs-kosztol-nyi/at-any-rate-they-were-strange-fellows-these-bohemians-they-lounged/)

[Dezső Kosztolányi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dezs-kosztol-nyi/)

[Browse all 11 Bohemians quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bohemians/)

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