Archive

Quotes

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

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.

—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BC

Good 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 BC

Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. 

—Ovid, 8

Some folks want their luck buttered.

—Thomas Hardy, 1886

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

—Thomas Browne, 1642

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

—Seneca the Younger, c. 45

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

—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC

Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.

—E.B. White, 1944

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

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.

—Joan Didion, 2005

Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.

—David Hume, 1742

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

—Martin Luther, c. 1540
  •