362 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



fortune lies in his own hand&quot; &quot;Faber quisque fortunse 

 proprise.&quot; So Livy gives this character of the elder Cato: 

 &quot;Such was his force of mind and genius, that wherever he 

 had been born he seemed formed for making his own 

 fortune. 1 51 



But if any one publicly professed or made open show 

 of this kind of prudence, it was always accounted not only 

 impolitic, but ominous and unfortunate, as was observed of 

 Timotheus the Athenian, who, after having performed many 

 great exploits for the honor and advantage of his country, 

 and giving an account of his conduct to the people, as the 

 manner then was, he concluded the several particulars thus: 

 &quot;And here fortune had no share&quot;;&quot; after which time noth 

 ing ever succeeded in his hands. This was, indeed, too 

 arrogant and haughty, like that of Pharaoh in Ezekiel, 

 &quot;Thou sayest, The river is mine, and I made myself&quot;; 63 

 or that of Habakkuk, &quot;They rejoice, and sacrifice to their 

 net&quot;; 64 or, again, that of Mezentius, who called his hand 

 and javelin his god; 



&quot;Dextra mihi dens, et telum, quod missile libro, 

 Nunc adsint&quot;; 55 



or, lastly, that of Julius Cassar, the only time that we find 

 him betraying his inward sentiments; for when the Aruspex 

 related to him that the entrails were not prosperous, he mut 

 tered softly, &quot;They shall be better when I please,&quot; which 

 was said not long before his unfortuntae death. 56 And, 

 indeed, this excessive confidence, as it is a profane thing, 

 so it is always unhappy; whence great and truly wise men 

 think proper to attribute all their successes to their felicity, 

 and not to their virtue and industry. So Sylla styled him 

 self happy, not great; and Ca3sar, at another time, more 

 advisedly said to the pilot, &quot;Thou earnest Ca3sar and his 

 fortune.&quot; 67 



61 Livy, xxxix. 40. 52 Plut. Sylla. 53 Ezek. xxix. 3. 



54 Habak. i. 15. 55 Mneid., x. 773. 56 Suetonius. 



67 Plutarch. Compare with this a curious letter from Cato to Cicero (ap. Cic. 

 ad Fam. xv. 5), wherein he says, &quot;Supplicationem decretam, si tu, qua in re 



