I've always preferred the 'bold' version so we stenciled it onto the wall of our son's crib before he was born. Whether in a career, or in life or in a football game on a rainy day in Morgantown West Virginia, fortune favors the bold. The brave and the bold are often in a better position for success. Whichever version you prefer, the meanings are virtually the same. Iuvat, sometimes spelled juvat, means to help or aid.) 19 B.C.), the Roman poet Virgil used another well known variation of the saying: 'Audentis Fortuna iuvat.' Both Latin versions have also been translated as 'Fortune favors the bold.' ( Audentis, sometimes given as audentes, comes from the Latin verb audeo, which means to dare or to be bold. However, adiuvat is more literally translated as helps or aids, rather than favors (in the sense of liking or preferring someone). Fortuna with a capital F, used in some versions of the classical quote, refers to the Goddess Fortuna (Fortune). The Latin word fortis (sometimes misspelled as fortes) does mean brave and fortuna means fortune. However, like 'Charity begins at home,' another saying traditionally credited to Terence, 'fortune favors the brave' is not quite a literal translation of what he wrote in Latin and it may have been a proverbial saying before Terence used it.Ĭredit the second version to the Roman poet Virgil: Fortune favors the bold It's a common translation of the Latin phrase 'fortis fortuna adiuvat,' which is spoken by a character in Act 1 of Phormio. Many sources say that the first recorded use of this ancient proverb was in the play Phormio (161 B.C.), written by Publius Terentius Afer, the Roman playwright known as Terence for short. Latin proverb traditionally attributed to Terence (c. The first can be traced back to the Roman playwright Terence: Fortune favors the brave

There are actually two variations of the phrase.

Romans fortune favors the brave