The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune.

Plutarch (c. 46–after 119 CE), a Greek essayist and biographer writing under the Roman Empire, repeatedly treats adversity as a proving ground for character in his moral essays and in the exemplary lives of statesmen and generals. The sentiment attributed to him fits the ethical program of the Moralia and the Parallel Lives: virtue is not merely professed in prosperity but demonstrated when fortune turns hostile. In Plutarch’s world—marked by political volatility, exile, public disgrace, and sudden reversals—moral education often proceeds through observing how notable figures respond to loss, humiliation, or danger. The quote circulates widely in modern collections as a Plutarchan maxim, though it is often presented without a precise ancient citation.

The saying defines “measure” not as status, wealth, or achievement, but as resilience and moral steadiness under pressure. Misfortune strips away social performance and exposes what is durable: self-command, courage, patience, and the capacity to act rightly when circumstances are unfair. The emphasis is not on avoiding suffering but on “bearing up” under it—meeting hardship without collapse into bitterness, panic, or cruelty. In Plutarch’s broader ethical outlook, adversity can become a kind of moral test and training, revealing whether one’s virtues are genuine habits of character or merely conveniences of good luck. The maxim thus shifts evaluation from outcomes to conduct.