We do not suffer by accident.
—Jane Austen, 1813
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Quotes
Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCFortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.
—David Hume, 1742Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?
—Thomas Browne, 1642Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.
—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BCThere are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.
—Mark Twain, 1897