--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If fortune wishes to make a man…" description: "\"If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him virtues; if she wishes to make him esteemed, she gives him success.\" — Joseph Joubert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/joseph-joubert-1017_fortune_if-fortune-wishes-to-make-a-man-estimabl_2465646.png" --- # If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him… ![“If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him virtues; if she wishes to make him esteemed, she gives him success.” quote by Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/joseph-joubert-1017_fortune_if-fortune-wishes-to-make-a-man-estimabl_2465646.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/joseph-joubert-1017_fortune_if-fortune-wishes-to-make-a-man-estimabl_2465646.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c4/joseph-joubert-1017_fortune_if-fortune-wishes-to-make-a-man-estimabl_2465646.png) > “If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him virtues; if she wishes to make him esteemed, she gives him success.” [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Virtue and success are distinct gifts from fate; one builds character, the other reputation. **In simple terms:** Virtue earns respect; success earns esteem. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue, seek success wisely. Themes ethics reputation fate Mood thoughtful contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - leadership - career growth - personal development - public life Key Concepts moral philosophy social status Questions to Reflect On - What virtues do you prioritize? - How does success affect your values? A Different Perspective Success without virtue may be hollow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtues/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [When fortune wishes to bring mighty events to a successful conclusion, she selects some man of spirit and ability who knows how to seize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/when-fortune-wishes-to-bring-mighty-events-to-a-successful-conclusion/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Whom Fortune wishes to destroy she first makes mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/whom-fortune-wishes-to-destroy-she-first-makes-mad/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [Whenever fortune wishes to joke, she lifts people from what is humble to the highest extremity of affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/whenever-fortune-wishes-to-joke-she-lifts-people-from-what-is-humble/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Difficulties are the spice that gives success its full flavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/difficulties-are-the-spice-that-gives-success-its-full-flavor/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A great leader gives success to followers, and accepts failure to self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yssubramanyam/a-great-leader-gives-success-to-followers-and-accepts-failure-to-self/) [Yssubramanyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yssubramanyam/) > [“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/failure-is-the-condiment-that-gives-success-its-flavour/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/failure-is-the-condiment-that-gives-success-its-flavor/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [Preparation plus opportunity gives success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-vera/preparation-plus-opportunity-gives-success/) [Marlon Vera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-vera/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) Miguel Cervantes > [Conductors make too much fuss about conductors! 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When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [What a man knows only through feeling can be explained only through enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/what-a-man-knows-only-through-feeling-can-be-explained-only-through/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Imagination is the eye of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/imagination-is-the-eye-of-the-soul/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [One man finds in religion his literature and his science, another finds in it his joy and his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/one-man-finds-in-religion-his-literature-and-his-science-another/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Which is more misshapen,--religion without virtue, or virtue without religion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/which-is-more-misshapen-religion-without-virtue-or-virtue-without/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many people become abstract as a way of appearing profound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-people-become-abstract-as-a-way-of-appearing-profound/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many books there are whose reputation is made that would not obtain it were it now to make?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-books-there-are-whose-reputation-is-made-that-would-not/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [God has commanded Time to console the unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/god-has-commanded-time-to-console-the-unhappy/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We shall always keep a spare corner in our heads to give passing hospitality to our friends' opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-shall-always-keep-a-spare-corner-in-our-heads-to-give-passing/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Agriculture engenders good sense, and good sense of an excellent kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/agriculture-engenders-good-sense-and-good-sense-of-an-excellent-kind/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We may convince others by our arguements, but we can only persuade them by their own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-may-convince-others-by-our-arguements-but-we-can-only-persuade/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [To teach is to learn twice. About all some parents accomplish in life is to send a child to Harvard. The purpose of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/to-teach-is-to-learn-twice-about-all-some-parents-accomplish-in-life/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Grace is in garments, in movements, in manners; beauty in the nude, and in forms. This is true of bodies; but when we speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/grace-is-in-garments-in-movements-in-manners-beauty-in-the-nude-and/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) [Explore all 306 Joseph Joubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## More Fortune quotes > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Five World Series rings, 3000-plus hits, the fame, the fortune and playing for the second most historic franchise in baseball... These are just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mookie-betts/five-world-series-rings-3000-plus-hits-the-fame-the-fortune-and/) [Mookie Betts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mookie-betts/) > [What has drug addiction done for me? It's cost me my career, my fortune and basically my sex life when I found out I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbin-crosby/what-has-drug-addiction-done-for-me-it-s-cost-me-my-career-my-fortune/) Robbin Crosby > [From these inconsiderable attempts, some idea may be formed with what success, should Fortune afford an opportunity, I am likely to treat matters of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giraldus-cambrensis/from-these-inconsiderable-attempts-some-idea-may-be-formed-with-what/) [Giraldus Cambrensis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giraldus-cambrensis/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. 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Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [We make our fortunes and we call them fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/we-make-our-fortunes-and-we-call-them-fate/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [What is taken from the fortune, also, may haply be so much lifted from the soul. 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