Archive

Quotes

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

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.

—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BC

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

—Arthur Griffiths, 1899

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8

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

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.

—Joan Didion, 2005

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

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

There 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, 1897

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1610

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

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

Luck is believing you’re lucky. 

—William Carlos Williams, 1947
  •