Archive

Quotes

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

—Christina Stead, 1938

Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.

—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BC

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

—Samuel Butler, c. 1890

Luck takes the step that no one sees.

—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BC

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

—Calvin Coolidge, 1932

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

—Martin Luther, c. 1540

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

—Oscar Wilde, 1895

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

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

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

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

—Arthur Griffiths, 1899

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1610

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

—E.B. White, 1944
  •