Archive

Quotes

Luck is believing you’re lucky. 

—William Carlos Williams, 1947

To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.

—Christina Stead, 1938

One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

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

—Arthur Griffiths, 1899

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8

Luck takes the step that no one sees.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC

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

—Cormac McCarthy, 2005

Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938

Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.

—Joan Didion, 2005

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1610

To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.

—Seneca the Younger, c. 45