Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938
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Quotes
Good 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 BCWe do not suffer by accident.
—Jane Austen, 1813There 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, 1897To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCFortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944When the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.
—Martin Luther, c. 1540