Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005
Archive
Quotes
One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
—Oscar Wilde, 1895To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?
—Thomas Browne, 1642Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
—Calvin Coolidge, 1932To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal.
—David Hume, 1742Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCWhen the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.
—Martin Luther, c. 1540It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847