'Call no man happy until he dies; he is at best but fortunate. ' -Herodotus
This particular occurrence of an old maxim comes from Herodotus's Histories, in which the ancient Greek historian writes about a semi-mythical episode involving Solon, the Athenian lawmaker, and Croesus, the wealthy and powerful king of Lydia. In a discussion about the nature of happiness, Solon emphasizes the fickleness of fate, arguing that no man yet alive, even Croesus, can be conclusively happy while he remains susceptible to tragedy. "Man," he says, "is altogether a creature of accident."
