What is luck? It is not only chance, it is also creating the opportunity, recognizing it when it is there, and taking it when it comes.
—Natasha Josefowitz
Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer.
—Unknown
I have been extraordinarily lucky. Anyone who pretends that some kind of luck isn’t involved in his success is deluding himself.
—Arthur Hailey (1920–2004) British-born Canadian Novelist
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Pitch a lucky man, into the Nile, says the Arabian proverb, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth.
—Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–67) American Poet, Playwright, Essayist
Throw a lucky man into the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth.
—Arabic Proverb
There is death in the pot.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Everything in life is luck.
—Donald Trump (b.1946) American Businessperson, Head of State
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
What the reason of the ant laboriously drags into a heap, the wind of accident will collect in one breath.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck, even while waiting for it.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
You have to be eligible for luck to strike, and I think that’s a matter of education and preparation, and character and all the other solid attributes that sometimes people laugh at.
—James A. Michener (1907–97) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Historian
Chance can be thought of as the cards you are dealt in life. Choice is how you play them.
—Edward O. Thorp
Go and wake up your luck.
—Persian Proverb
The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Luck marches with those who give their very best
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act.
—Barbara Sher (1935–2020) American Career Coach
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Each man’s character shapes his fortunes.
—Latin Proverb
Fortune is the rod of the weak, and the staff of the brave.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
I find I’m luckier when I work harder.
—Denton Cooley (1920–2016) American Cardiac Surgeon
A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck.
—James A. Garfield (1831–81) American Head of State, Lawyer, Educator
To believe in luck … is skepticism.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Luck, bad if not good, will always be with us. But it has a way of favoring the intelligent and showing its back to the stupid.
—John Dewey (1859–1952) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Educator
There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
All successful men have agreed in being causationists; they believed that things were not by luck, but by law—that there was not a weak or cracked link in the chain that joins the first and last of things—the cause and effect.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
See a pin and pick it up, all the day you’ll have good luck; set a pin and let it lie, you’ll want a pin before you die.
—Common Proverb
Some are satisfied to stand politely before the portals of Fortune and to await her bidding; better those who push forward, and who employ their enterprise, who on the wings of their worth and valor seek to embrace luck and effectively to gain her favor.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Don’t believe in miracles—depend on them.
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) Canadian-born American Educator, Author
I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Fortune favors the bold.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
No man ever wetted clay and then left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
Luck is the residue of design.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
Fortune cannot be flattered by such fetish worship. But she can be wooed and won by hard work.
—Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (1879–1964) Canadian-born British Politician, Journalist
Chance never helps those who do not help themselves.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
For each petal on the shamrock this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day.
—Irish Blessing
Accident is the name of the greatest of all inventors.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
—Irish Blessing
I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings, and strictly honest who complained of bad luck.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow’s good luck.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
‘Tis man’s to fight, but Heaven’s to give success.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
I do not believe that the Good Lord plays dice.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
I resolved to take Fate by the throat and shake the living out of her.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
Chance works for us when we are good captains.
—George Meredith (1828–1909) British Novelist, Poet, Critic
It is a madness to make fortune the mistress of events, because in herself she is nothing, but is ruled by prudence.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves.
—Larry King (1933–2021) American TV Personality, Radio Personality, Journalist
People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.
—Anne Tyler (b.1941) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Fortune is with you for an hour, and against you for ten.
—Arabic Proverb
Chance usually favors the prudent man.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist