No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.

Plutarch’s image compares human aims to brickmaking: wetting clay is only the first step, and without continued shaping, drying, and firing, no bricks result. The point is a rebuke to passive hope—success in character, politics, or learning does not arise from mere beginnings or from luck, but from sustained, directed effort. By choosing a homely craft metaphor, the saying stresses practicality: intentions and raw materials are common, but finished works require method and perseverance. It also implies a moral dimension typical of Plutarch: responsibility lies with the agent, not with “chance and fortune.”