Archive

Quotes

Luck takes the step that no one sees.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC

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

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.

—Seneca the Younger, c. 45

One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.

—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1610

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

When the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.

—Martin Luther, c. 1540

Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.

—David Hume, 1742

A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.

—Christina Stead, 1938

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

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.

—Joan Didion, 2005

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8
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