Archive

Quotes

Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.

—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BC

Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.

—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8

Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938

Luck takes the step that no one sees.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC

Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

Some folks want their luck buttered.

—Thomas Hardy, 1886

Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1610

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

—Arthur Griffiths, 1899

Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.

—Joan Didion, 2005

’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?

—Thomas Browne, 1642
  •