[17]
Good fortune consists in the acquisition or
possession
of either all, or
the most, or the most important of those goods of which fortune is the cause.
Now fortune is the cause of some things with which the arts also are concerned,
and also of many which have nothing to do with art, for instance, such as are
due to nature （though it is possible that the results of fortune may be
contrary to nature）; for art is a cause of health, but nature of beauty
and stature.1 Speaking generally, the goods which come from fortune
are such as excite envy. Fortune is also a cause of those goods which are beyond
calculation; for instance, a man's brothers are all ugly, while he is handsome;
they did not see the treasure, while he found it; the arrow hit one who stood by
and not the man aimed at; or, one who frequented a certain place was the only
one who did not go there on a certain occasion, while those who went there then
for the first time met their death. All such instances appear to be examples of
good fortune.
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1 The results of art and the results due to nature are often assisted （or hindered） by the interference of the irregular operations of fortune or chance. Health may be the result of fortune, as well as art （a sick man may be cured by a drug taken by chance, one not prescribed by the physician）; beauty and strength, of fortune as well as nature. It is parenthetically remarked that fortune may also produce unnatural monstrosities. The removal of the brackets and the substitution of a comma for the colon after φύσις have been suggested. The meaning would then be: “for instance, such as are due to nature, but possibly may be also contrary to nature.”
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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