It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963
Archive
Quotes
To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Luck is believing you’re lucky.
—William Carlos Williams, 1947Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.
—David Hume, 1742A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
—Oscar Wilde, 1895Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Some folks want their luck buttered.
—Thomas Hardy, 1886Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944