It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963
Archive
Quotes
To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890Some folks want their luck buttered.
—Thomas Hardy, 1886Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.
—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BCGood 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 BCSurvivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005Luck is believing you’re lucky.
—William Carlos Williams, 1947’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?
—Thomas Browne, 1642Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCThose who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932