quotations about luck
Stoutly as we may affirm that our disasters and vices are chargeable to luck, we never dream of ascribing our meritorious deeds, in the slightest degree to its agency. In such cases we quite unconsciously blink out of sight the magic power of the latter principle, so wondrous and all-controlling in its influence at other times, and coolly appropriate to ourselves not merely the lion's share, but the whole glory of our position.
WILLIAM MATTHEWS
Hints on Success in Life
A rabbit's foot may bring good luck to you, but it brought none to the rabbit.
AMBROSE BIERCE
"Epigrams of a Cynic"
For luck you carried a horse chestnut and a rabbit’s foot in your right pocket. The fur had been worn off the rabbit’s foot long ago and the bones and the sinews were polished by the wear. The claws scratched in the lining of your pocket and you knew your luck was still there.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
A Moveable Feast
Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
letter to Scottie Fitzgerald, Sep. 19, 1938
It's hard to detect good luck -- it looks so much like something you've earned.
FRANK A. CLARK
attributed, Quote Unquote
I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more of it I have.
STEPHEN LEACOCK
Leacock on Life
Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
E. B. WHITE
"Control", One Man's Meat
So powerfully does fortune appear to sway the destinies of men, putting a silver spoon into one man's mouth, and a wooden one into another's, that some of the most sagacious of men, as Cardinal Mazarin and Rothschild, seem to have been inclined to regard luck as the first element of worldly success; experience, sagacity, energy, and enterprise as nothing, if linked to an unlucky star.
WILLIAM MATHEWS
"Good and Bad Luck", Hints on Success in Life
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
GARRISON KEILLOR
Lake Wobegon Days
An ounce of luck is worth a pound of wisdom.
FRENCH PROVERB
I've found that what most people call luck is often little more than raw talent combined with the ability to make the most of opportunities.
TIMOTHY ZAHN
Heir to the Empire
Luck sure didn't look like a lady tonight, more like the bitch she always was.
ROB THURMAN
Nightlife
A man forgets his good luck next day, but remembers his bad luck until next year.
EDGAR WATSON HOWE
Country Town Sayings
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow's good luck.
OG MANDINO
attributed, Secrets of Lucky People: A Study of the Laws of Good Luck
After hard work, the biggest determinate is being in the right place at the right time.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
Newsweek, Aug. 4, 1997
There is one curious fact noticeable in regard to this thing called "luck," which is, that while it is made responsible for any turn of affairs that we feel to be discreditable to us, it rarely has credit for an opposite state of things; but, like most other faithful allies in victory, comes poorly off.
WILLIAM MATTHEWS
Hints on Success in Life
Oh, I am fortune's fool!
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Romeo and Juliet
Here's the thing about luck ... you don't know if it's good or bad until you have some perspective.
ALICE HOFFMAN
Local Girls
Even the luckless need their luck.
YIDDISH PROVERB
Luck's just another word for destiny ... either you make your own or you're screwed.
JOHN LE CARRÉ
The Mission Song