Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.

Hear the voice of Virgil, the Roman poet whose verses in the Aeneid still thunder across the ages. He declared: “Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.” These words are not merely the musings of a poet, but the distillation of Rome’s spirit, a spirit that rose from ashes again and again to forge an empire. In this saying lies the essence of resilience: that no storm, no blow of fate, no cruelty of chance can defeat the soul that endures.

The meaning is simple yet profound. Fortune is fickle—it smiles today and frowns tomorrow. None can command her hand, for she is like the shifting sea, rising and falling without warning. But while man cannot control fortune, he can command himself. Endurance is the armor of the spirit, the shield against despair, the steadfastness that transforms loss into victory. Virgil teaches that suffering is not the end, but the crucible through which greatness is forged.

This truth is embodied in the very tale of Aeneas, the hero of Virgil’s epic. Stripped of his city, cast adrift by war, pursued by fate’s harsh decree, he could have surrendered to despair. Yet through storms, temptations, and losses, he endured. His endurance did not erase his grief, but it gave him strength to continue, to found a people, to lay the seeds of Rome itself. Thus, Virgil’s words are not idle—they are the heartbeat of his own story, showing that bad fortune bows before unwavering perseverance.

History bears witness as well. Consider Winston Churchill during the darkest days of World War II, when Britain stood alone against the might of the Nazi war machine. Bombs fell, cities burned, and defeat loomed. Yet Churchill declared, “We shall never surrender.” It was endurance—not numbers, not immediate triumph—that carried his people through until allies rose and victory was won. Here again, Virgil’s ancient wisdom proved true: bad fortune can be conquered, but only by those who refuse to yield.

The heart of this teaching is that endurance is not passive suffering but active strength. To endure is not to sit idle while misfortune strikes; it is to hold steady, to stand upright though the winds howl, to advance one step at a time though the path is filled with pain. The man who endures does not deny his hardship; he masters it, transforming what was meant to break him into the very force that shapes his destiny.

O children of the future, take this lesson into your bones: you cannot avoid bad fortune, but you can learn to endure it. When life strikes, do not curse the heavens or collapse in despair. Instead, steady your heart. Say to yourself, “This too shall pass.” Use every trial as training for the soul, every setback as a stone to climb higher. Remember that those who endure outlast their enemies, outlast their failures, outlast even the cruelty of time.

Therefore, let your daily practice be this: cultivate endurance in small things, so you may wield it in great trials. When impatience gnaws at you, hold firm. When weariness whispers surrender, rise once more. Strengthen your will as a warrior strengthens his arm. For the day will come when bad fortune will descend upon you as upon all men—and then you must endure.

Thus, engrave Virgil’s wisdom upon your heart: “Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.” The storms will come, the nights will be long, but if your spirit stands unbroken, victory will in time be yours. Fortune may strike, but endurance triumphs. This is the law of the ages.