I love the old way best, the simple way of poison, where we too are strong as men.
The lucky person passes for a genius.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Luck can often make a person seem more capable than they actually are.
This quote by Euripides suggests that luck has a significant role in determining how people are perceived in their abilities. When a person benefits from fortunate circumstances, they may be regarded as a genius or exceptional, regardless of their actual skill or talent. This highlights the interplay between chance and merit in life, reminding us that appearances can be deceiving and that success is not always purely a result of individual effort or intelligence.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about innovation, one might use this quote to emphasize how sometimes success comes from being in the right place at the right time.
More from Euripides
All quotes βMankind . . . possesses two supreme blessings. First of these is the goddess Demeter, or Earth whichever name you choose to call her by. It was she who gave to man his nourishment of grain. But after her there came the son of Semele, who matched her present by inventing liquid wine as his gift to man. For filled with that good gift, suffering mankind forgets its grief; from it comes sleep; with it oblivion of the troubles of the day. There is no other medicine for misery.
Money is far more persuasive than logical arguments.
Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.
Who then will dare to say I'm weak or timid? No, they'll say I'm loyal as a friend, ruthless as a foe, so much like a hero destined for glory.
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
Similar quotes
Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The Sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines, the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.
Only a good-for-nothing is not interested in his past.
The masses are always wrong...Wisdom is doing everything the crowd does not do. All you do is reverse the totality of their learning and you have the heaven they're looking for.
Do not trust people. They are capable of greatness.
I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth.
The [Booker] prize was actually responsible in many ways for my political activism. I won this thing and I was suddenly the darling of the new emerging Indian middle class β they needed a princess. They had the wrong woman. I had this light shining on me at the time, and I knew that I had the stage to say something about what was happening in my country. What is exciting about what I have done since is that writing has become a weapon, some kind of ammunition.