Chapter XXIX.

Of Fortune.

Plato says, that it is an accidental cause and a casual consequence in things which proceed from the election and counsel of men. Aristotle, that it is an accidental cause in those things done by an impulse for a certain end; and this cause is uncertain and unstable¹: there is a great deal of difference betwixt that which flows from chance and that which falls out by Fortune; for that which is fortuitous allows also chance, and belongs to things practical; but what is by chance cannot be also by Fortune, for it belongs to things without action: Fortune, moreover, pertains² to rational beings, but chance to rational and irrational³ beings alike, and even to inanimate things. Epicurus, that it is a cause not always consistent, but various as to persons, times, and manners. Anaxagoras and the Stoics⁴, that it is that cause which human reason cannot comprehend; for there are some things which proceed from necessity, some things from Fate, some from choice and free-will, some from Fortune, some from chance.

1 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

2 pertains   

关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用

参考例句：

• When one manages upward, none of these clear and unambiguous symbols pertains. 当一个人由下而上地管理时，这些明确无误的信号就全都不复存在了。
• Her conduct hardly pertains to a lady. 她的行为与女士身份不太相符。

3 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

4 stoics   

禁欲主义者，恬淡寡欲的人，不以苦乐为意的人( stoic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Stoics I can handle this shit. 斯多葛：我能掌握这大便。
• The most famous exercise of meditation is the premeditatio mallorum as practiced by the Stoics. 冥思最著名的练习是禁欲学派所实行的[消灾冥思]。