The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Interpretation
Luck cannot replace a good plan; poor planning can lead to misfortune despite favorable circumstances.
This quote by Herodotus emphasizes that while luck may occasionally benefit those who fail to plan properly, it does not rectify the inherent flaws in their planning. The essence of successful endeavors lies in careful and thoughtful planning, as luck is unreliable and does not change the quality of one's strategy.
In practice
In a motivational speech about the importance of preparation, this quote can be used to emphasize careful planning.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
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Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change.
Use your health while you have it, my dear friend and brother. Do not cast away peculiar opportunities that may never come again. You know not when your last Sabbath with your people may come. Speak for eternity. Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin.
Truth was the only daughter of Time.
It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.
There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.
Security isn't what the wise person looks for - it's opportunity.
Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.
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