- English translation
A young man rises on his own good fortune, not on his father's or his grandfather's name.
- Literal wording
The young man [goes] by his luck, not by his father and not by his grandfather.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that a person's standing in life comes from the fortune or luck allotted to them, not from personal effort and not from the reputation or nobility of their father and grandfather. Distinguished ancestry neither guarantees success nor stands in for it.
It can deflate those who lean on family prestige, or reassure someone of modest birth that luck may still lift them. Its outlook is fatalistic: it places fate above pedigree, and it is not praise for self-made achievement or hard work.
- When it is used
Fits remarks on someone whose rise owes nothing to a distinguished family, or on someone from a respected line who fails to prosper. Though the literal subject is a young man, it applies to anyone. It can console the humbly born or deflate ancestral pride, depending on tone.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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