Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Quotes
Luck, in the great game of war, is undoubtedly lord of all.
—Arthur Griffiths, 1899Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847Good fortune is light as a feather, but nobody knows how to hold it up. Misfortune is heavy as the earth, but nobody knows how to stay out of its way.
—Zhuangzi, c. 300 BCFortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944Luck is believing you’re lucky.
—William Carlos Williams, 1947Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.
—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BCTo put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?
—Thomas Browne, 1642