Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC
Archive
Quotes
To put one’s trust in God is only a longer way of saying that one will chance it.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it, and when he can.
—Mark Twain, 1897It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847Nothing is as obnoxious as other people’s luck.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1938Good fortune turns aside destruction by a great god.
—Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy, c. 100 BCWhen the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.
—Martin Luther, c. 1540Fortune resists half-hearted prayers.
—Ovid, 8Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCA self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938Survivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
—Cormac McCarthy, 2005’Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a game at tables?
—Thomas Browne, 1642