All pure Sagittarians (November 23 to December 22) have enormous potential, but by no means all of them fulfil the promise they display in early life. This is because one of the characteristics of the sign is a happy-go-lucky attitude, a carelessness about the consequences of actions, which sometimes results in the pure Sagittarian throwing away success when it is in hislher grasp. If, for example, you meet a brilliant young student who suddenly stops doing any work a few months before finals, there is a strong probability that he/she is a pure Sagittarian. The sudden and unexpected failure of a Sagittarian in some enterprise or activity in which he/she seemed destined to succeed is not always conclusive. Sagittarius is a lucky sign and destiny usually seems to afford pure Sagittarians more than one opportunity of achieving success; for them the old saying about 'as one door closes another opens' usually proves to be true. .

With the Sagittarian carelessness goes a freedom-loving personality and an open and generous-hearted attitude towards life. Curiously enough, this seems to repel some people; even the most agreeable Sagittarian finds that some people try to pick quarrels with him or her. The natural talents of the Sagittarians, combined with their tendency to throw chances away, result in pure Sagittarians usually achieving either great success and popularity or ending their lives as rather pathetic 'might-have-beens' . Sagittarian personalities include and have included Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Noel Coward, John Osborne, and performers Frank Sinatra and Gipsy Rose Lee.

Sexuality and the Emotions
Strongly Sagittarian men and women are both lovable as friends and desirable as long-term partners. As a consequence, they are much sought after by the opposite sex. And yet, paradoxically, they often only establish satisfactory long-term emotional relationships in the second half of their lives. This is because they have a tendency to reject, kindly but firmly, the love that is offered to them. This is not because they do not wish to take on responsibilities for others they will shoulder them uncomplainingly - but because they set an enormous value on their emotional freedom. Once they do settle down, however, Sagittarians make devoted husbands, wives and parents. In spite of this devotedness, Sagittarians are quite remarkably lacking in jealousy and possessiveness.

General Character
Sagittarius is a lucky sign, but in youth Sagittarians need every bit of their inherent ability to fall on their feet, both literally and metaphorically. For they are continually taking chances in a way that most people would regard as thoroughly reckless. They drive fast, engage in dangerous sports, are careless with money - pure Sagittarians like gambling and speculation - and seek every type of excitement, physical, emotional and intellectual. All these activities are spin-offs, as it were, from their search for personal freedom - an endeavour to escape from the restraints which bind us all to a greater or lesser extent. In later life this recklessness is usually somewhat diminished (although even elderly Sagittarians are ready to take risks which might make younger people blanch), and the Sagittarian quest for personal freedom assumes a more thoughtful and intellectual form. They seek a philosophy of life which sees each and every individual as unique and solely responsible for hislher own destiny.

The free-and-easy attitude of the Sagittarians extends to others as well as themselves. A Sagittarian is rarely the sort of bogus libertarian who expresses deep concern for his/her own freedom of thought and action but fails to defend the liberties of others or, even worse, endeavours to impose his/her standards of behaviour upon them. With the Sagittarian's love of personal liberty goes a certain unconventionality which, quite unwittingly, can cause deep offence - it is the Sagittarian who blithely assumes that it is quite acceptable to wear casual clothes at a formal social gathering or to take an uninvited guest to a party. It is, to some extent, the annoyance produced in others by the Sagittarian's free-and-easy manners that probably accounts for the fact that, in spite of his/her friendliness, the pure Sagittarian finds that others insist on picking quarrels.

These quarrels, which are sometimes responsible for unexpected reverses in the Sagittarian's progress through life, rarely end a friendship definitively - charm, genuine niceness and a certain amount of Sagittarian luck usually result in reconciliation.

Life-Style
Sagittarians are always versatile and it is quite common for them to change from one career to another that, on the face of it, calls for quite different qualities. But both careers will have in common freedom from dull routine work and will give the Sagittarian a chance to use his/ her versatility and intelligence. Challenge is important to the Sagittarian, and a job which does not offer problems will never be totally satisfactory to him/her, however well paid it may be.