Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944Quotes
To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938Good 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 BCWe do not suffer by accident.
—Jane Austen, 1813Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906When the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.
—Martin Luther, c. 1540Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
—Cormac McCarthy, 2005