A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938
Archive
Quotes
Some folks want their luck buttered.
—Thomas Hardy, 1886Good 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 believing you’re lucky.
—William Carlos Williams, 1947It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890There 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, 1897Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932When the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.
—Martin Luther, c. 1540Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
—Oscar Wilde, 1895