Fortune, good or ill, is not by any means overlooked. Thus we find the philosophic reflection, "Fortune can take nothing from us but what she gave"; and the warning, "Fortune is constant in nothing but inconstancy." We are warned yet again that "When fortune comes smiling she often designs the most mischief." All, however, is not blind chance; the hand of God is guiding; "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will." Nor is the hand of man without its influence, for "To him that is willing ways are not wanting," and "If you weave your web God will find the thread." The Italians say, "Vien la fortuna a chi la procura"--good fortune is to him who earns it; while the French declare, "Qui ne se lasse pas lasse l'adversité"--he who does not tire tires adversity, and steady perseverance will conquer ill-fortune. "La fortune aide aux audacieux," say the French again, while the Romans declared, "Fortes fortuna adjuvat"--fortune assists the brave, the classic reading of our more homely version, "Nothing venture, nothing have." The victim of ill-fortune is reminded that "It is a long lane that has no turning"; or, as Gower puts it: "Sometime I drew into memoire Howe sorowe maie not euer last." The French have a saying, "The wind in a man's face makes him wise," equivalent to the English adage, "Adversity makes a man wise, not rich," and so the Psalmist sings, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." Trouble works, however, in a twofold way, and while some it softens, others it hardens. It is a matter of common observation that misfortunes often fall most unexpectedly, and that they seldom come singly. "O soden hap, O thou fortune unstable, Like to the scorpion so deceivable, That flatrest with thy hed whan thou wilt sting."[249:A] "Mischiefs," says an old proverb, "come by the pound and go away by the ounce," and the Italians have a practically identical saying. These calamities come sometimes in such a flood that no resistance to their attack seems of any avail, hence the quaint and homely adage, "There is no fence against a flail." The Romans had the saw, "Mustelam habes"--you have a weasel in your house, which they applied to those with whom everything seemed to turn out unfortunately: to meet a weasel being considered by the Romans an ill-omen.