Fortune favors the brave

Fortune favors the brave is the chapter’s framing maxim for Phileas Fogg’s dangerous, uncertain project. Its significance lies not in a promise of success, but in the willingness to act despite the risk—and in the new loyalty that this resolve awakens in Passepartout.

The Maxim and the Risk

The chapter heading calls the unfolding episode a new proof of the saying. The project is described as bold, difficult, and perhaps impracticable: Fogg may risk his life, or at least his liberty, and with them the success of his tour. The maxim therefore frames bravery as a decision made before the outcome is known, rather than as a quality confirmed only by victory.

Allies in the Undertaking

Fogg does not hesitate to proceed, and Sir Francis Cromarty becomes an enthusiastic ally. Passepartout, too, is ready for whatever may be proposed. Their responses give the saying a practical, relational force: Fogg’s resolve draws others into a venture whose dangers are plainly acknowledged, not concealed.

Passepartout’s New Understanding

The project charms Passepartout because it reveals something he had not seen beneath Fogg’s icy exterior. He perceives a heart and soul in his master and begins to love him. Thus the chapter’s “new proof” concerns more than daring action: Fogg’s willingness to risk himself changes Passepartout’s understanding of him, turning obedience into affection.