Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (Incerto, #1)

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The poem addresses Marc Antony, who has just lost the battle against Octavius and was forsaken by Bacchus, the god who until then had protected him.

Phoenician Cypriot, Zeno of Kition, it developed by Roman time into a life based on a system of virtues—in the ancient sense when virtue meant virtu, the sort of belief in which virtue is its own reward. There developed a social model for a stoic person, like the gentlemen in Victorian England.

The stoic is a person who combines the qualities of wisdom, upright dealing, and courage. The stoic will thus be immune from life’s gyrations as he will be superior to the wounds from some of life’s dirty tricks.

The only article Lady Fortuna has no control over is your behavior. Good luck.