Fortune Favors the Bold | Meaning & Origin
The idiom “fortune favors the bold” suggests that those who take risks and are brave are more likely to be successful. It implies that taking initiative and being courageous can lead to positive outcomes, rather than waiting passively for things to happen.
This phrase comes from the Latin audentes Fortuna Iuvat, which exists in a few forms. It implies that your fate is not predetermined; rather, you have the opportunity to make your life great through the actions you take.
Fortune favors the bold, so Iโm going after my dreams.
Whenever I would get nervous, my grandma would tell me,
โFortune favors the bold.โ
How to use fortune favors the bold
โFortune favors the boldโ is used to reason why one should perform an action (e.g., โFortune favors the bold, so Iโm going to film a movieโ). It is also often used as a response to encourage someone to perform an action (e.g., โDo you think I should start sharing my artwork online?โ โFortune favors the bold.โ).
The idiom โfortune favors the boldโ can be used within a sentence or can stand alone as a complete sentence.
If fortune favors the bold, then I have to go after what I want.
Fortune may favor the bold, but Iโm scared of messing up.
Fortune favors the bold in Latin
โFortune favors the boldโ is a translation of a Latin proverb. There are a few Latin translations for this phrase, including:
- audentes fortuna iuvat
- audentes fortuna adiuvat
- fortuna audaces iuvat
- audentis fortuna iuvat
There are also variations on the phrase, which include the following:
- fortes fortuna adiuvat (โfortune favors the strongโ)
- fortuna eruditis favet (โfortune favors the prepared mindโ)
The phrase is believed to have originated from Terence, a Roman playwright. One of the proverbial phrases in Act 1 of his play Phormio (161 BC) is fortes fortuna adiuvat, or โfortune favors the strong.โ
The poet Virgil was the first to use the exact phrase audentes Fortuna iuvat (โfortune favors the boldโ). He capitalized the โfโ in โFortunaโ because itโs the name of the Roman goddess of luck.
In his letters, ย Pliny the Younger quotes his uncle, Pliny the Elder, as saying โfortune favors the boldโ when choosing to lead an expedition to investigate ย the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Other interesting articles
If you want to know more about common mistakes, verbs, or US vs UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
Common mistakes
Verbs
Frequently asked questions about fortune favors the bold
- Who said fortune favors the bold?
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Many people credit the playwright Terence with the origin of the idiom โfortune favors the strong.โ However, Virgil is credited with the more popular version โfortune favors the bold.โ
- Is fortune favors the bold Latin?
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The idiom โfortune favors the boldโ is a translation of the Lain proverb audentes fortuna iuvat.
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Pfeifer, P. (2025, November 13). Fortune Favors the Bold | Meaning & Origin. Quillbot. Retrieved April 10, 2026, from https://quill.cosmictools.in/blog/idioms/fortune-favors-the-bold/
