The urge to gamble is so universal and its practice so pleasurable that I assume it must be evil.
—Heywood Broun (1888–1939) American Journalist
The gambler is a moral suicide.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Smith and Wesson or a Colt always beat four aces.
—U.S. Proverb
You cannot get anything out of nature or from God by gambling; only out of your neighbor.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Gambling is the son of avarice and the father of despair.
—French Proverb
All gaming, since it implies a desire to profit at the expense of others, involves a breach of the tenth commandment.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Whenever you see a gaming table be sure to know fortune is not there. Rather she is always in the company of industry.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
One should always play fair when one has the winning cards.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as most people, being always excited; women, wine, fame, the table, even ambition, sate now and then, but every turn of the card and cast of the dice keeps the gambler alive—besides one can game ten times longer than one can do any thing else.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Curst is the wretch enslaved to such a vice, who ventures life and soul upon the dice.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
In gambling the many must lose in order that the few may win.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Of all mechanics, of all servile handycrafts-men, a gamester is the vilest. But yet, as many of the quality are of the profession, he is admitted amongst the politest company.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
Luck never gives; it only lends.
—Swedish Proverb
I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
Gambling houses are temples where the most sordid and turbulent passions contend; there no spectator can be indifferent. A card or a small square of ivory interests more than the loss of an empire, or the ruin of an unoffending group of infants, and their nearest relatives.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–95) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
By gambling we lose both our time and treasure, two things most precious to the life of man.
—Owen Feltham (1602–68) English Essayist
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet.
—Damon Runyon (1884–1946) American Journalist, Short-Story Writer
He was a degenerate gambler. That is, a man who gambled simply to gamble and must lose. As a hero who goes to war must die. Show me a gambler and I’ll show you a loser, show me a hero and I’ll show you a corpse.
—Mario Puzo (1920–99) Novelist, Screenwriter, Journalist
The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.
—English Proverb
Don’t gamble! Take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Never bet on baseball.
—Pete Rose (1941–2024) American MLB Player, Manager, All-Time Hits Leader
Gambling is the child of avarice, but the parent of prodigality.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Rule: Never perform card tricks for the people you play poker with.
—Common Proverb
Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing from something.
—Wilson Mizner (1876–1933) American Dramatist
Gambling is a kind of tacit confession that those engaged therein do, in general, exceed the bounds of their respective fortunes; and therefore they cast lots to determine on whom the ruin shall at present fall, that the rest may be saved a little longer.
—William Blackstone (1723–80) English Judge, Jurist, Academic
Bets, at the first, were fool-traps, where the wise, like spiders, lay in ambush for the flies.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The world is the house of the strong. I shall not know until the end what I have lost or won in this place, in this vast gambling den where I have spent more than sixty years, dicebox in hand, shaking the dice.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
It is possible that a wise and good man may be prevailed on to gamble; but it is impossible that a professed gamester should be a wise and good man.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
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