Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Quotes
Good 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 BCThose who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944We do not suffer by accident.
—Jane Austen, 1813Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCCasting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BCIt is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8There 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, 1906