Archive

Quotes

Luck takes the step that no one sees.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC

Some folks want their luck buttered.

—Thomas Hardy, 1886

Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.

—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC

You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.

—Cormac McCarthy, 2005

Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.

—David Hume, 1742

There 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

Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.

—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BC

Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear. 

—Charlotte Brontë, 1847

Luck, in the great game of war, is undoubtedly lord of all.

—Arthur Griffiths, 1899

Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.

—E.B. White, 1944

It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.

—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8