Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400)
“When Fortune flees a man is left forsaken
Of glory, wealth and kingdom; all’s past cure.
Even the friends he has will not endure,
For if good fortune makes your friends for you
Ill fortune makes them enemies for sure,
A proverb very trite and very true.”
- From The Canterbury Tales (The Monk’s Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated to modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).
