quotations about luck
Luck, if it mean nothing more than an event of which the cause is not apparent, is a term that may be employed without error; but if it means, as it generally does, an event which has no cause at all, a mere chance, it is a bad word, a heathen term; drop it from your vocabulary; trust nothing to luck, nor expect anything from it; avoid all practical use or dependence upon this or its kindred words, fate, chance, fortune.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES
The Young Man's Friend and Guide Through Life to Immortality
Used to think that luck wuz luck and nuthin' else but luck--
It made no diff'rence how or when or where or why it struck;
But sev'ral years ago I changt my mind, an' now proclaim
That luck's a kind uv science--same as any other game.
EUGENE FIELD
"How Salty Win Out", The Poems of Eugene Field
Luck is an accident that happens to the competent.
ALBERT M. GREENFIELD
attributed, Quips, Quotes and Savvy Sayings
All good fortune is a gift of the gods and you don't win the favour of the ancient gods by being good but by being bold.
ANITA BROOKNER
attributed, Writers at Work
Come, my friend, forget your foes, and leave your fears behind,
And wander forth to try your luck, with cheerful, quiet mind;
For be your fortune great or small, you take what God will give,
And all the day your heart will say, "'Tis luck enough to live."
HENRY VAN DYKE
"The Angler's Reveille", The Poems of Henry Van Dyke
Some people are so fond of ill-luck that they run half-way to meet it.
DOUGLAS JERROLD
The Wit and Opinions of Douglas Jerrold
I know what you're thinkin', punk. You're thinkin' did he fire six shots or only five? Now to tell you the truth, I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But bein' this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and it'll blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?!
CLINT EASTWOOD
Dirty Harry
A lucky man is rarer than a white crow.
JUVENAL
Satires
I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings, and strictly honest, who complained of bad luck; a good character, good habits, and iron industry are impregnable to the assaults of all the ill-luck that fools ever dreamed of.
JOSEPH ADDISON
attributed, Day's Collacon
If grace belongs to God, there are those who say that luck belongs to the Devil and that he looks after his own.
SARAH DUNANT
In the Company of the Courtesan
Believing there's no such thing as luck is very unlucky. Like, the worst. Beyond stealing someone's lucky four-leaf clover.
CAPRICE CRANE
With a Little Luck: A Novel
Luck is not as random as you think. Before that lottery ticket won the jackpot, someone had to buy it.
VERA NAZARIAN
The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration
Hard work and a proper frame of mind prepare you for the lucky breaks that come along -- or don't.
HARRISON FORD
"The Real Harrison Ford", San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 13, 1990
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
JOYCE CAROL OATES
Do With Me What You Will
Apportioned and allotted upon arrival here on Earth,
our luck is spent in small segments for joys and births.
HERBERT SIEGEL
Discrete Thoughts
It is ourselves alone that make our days lucky or unlucky. Away, then, with a vain prejudice, the invention of the priesthood, which has been transmitted by our ancestors to an ignorant people.
VOLTAIRE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Luck is for suckers.
JOHN GREEN
Looking for Alaska
I sometimes think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not the bad luck of the early worm.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
attributed, Roosevelt and Howe
There are no chances so unlucky from which clever people are not able to reap some advantage, and none so lucky that the foolish are not able to turn to their own disadvantage.
ROCHEFOUCAULD
attributed, Day's Collacon
We are all vainer of our luck than of our merits.
REX STOUT
The Rubber Band