Archive

Quotes

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

—Christina Stead, 1938

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.

—Cormac McCarthy, 2005

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

—Martin Luther, c. 1540

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

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

—Thomas Browne, 1642

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

—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC

Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.

—David Hume, 1742

It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear. 

—Charlotte Brontë, 1847

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

—Seneca the Younger, c. 45

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

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

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

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938
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