“Sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don't do in a few seconds, a heartbeat, when we either seize the opportunity, or just miss it. Miss the moment and you never get a chance again.”
Source: Dying to Know You
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Aidan Chambers6
British children's writer 1934Related quotes
“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”
Eric Roth (1945) American screenwriter
Source: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay
“Families break up when they get hints you don't intend and miss hints that you do.”
Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet
As quoted in Bartlett's Book of Love Quotations (1994) <!-- cited either to "Comment" or as a comment, this may have been attributed to Frost at least as early as 1962-->
General sources
Context: The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended — and not to take a hint when a hint isn't intended.
“The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
Abba Eban (1915–2002) Israeli diplomat and politician
As quoted in The Jerusalem Post (18 November 2002) http://www.factsofisrael.com/blog/archives/000491.html; often misquoted as "Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." The quote is attributed to Abba Eban after the Geneva Peace Conference http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/geneva.html with Arab countries (21 December 1973).
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (1894–1972) king of the United Kingdom and its dominions in 1936
A King's Story http://books.google.com/books?id=D2a1AAAAIAAJ&q=%22only+two+rules+really+count+never+miss+an+opportunity+to+relieve+yourself+never+miss+a+chance+to+sit+down+and+rest+your+feet%22&pg=PA132#v=onepage (1951)
“While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.”
Publilio Siro Latin writer
Maxim 185
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
“Where are you this moment?
only in my dreams.
You're missing, but you're always
a heartbeat from me.”
Enya (1961) Irish singer, songwriter, and musician
Song lyrics, Amarantine (2005)
Eric Schmidt (1955) software engineer, businessman
Charlie Rose interview, 3 Jun 2005 https://charlierose.com/videos/17574, quoted in An Old Eric Schmidt Interview Reveals Google’s End-Game For Search And Competition https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/an-old-eric-schmidt-interview-reveals-googles-end-game-for-search-and-competition/ by TechCrunch (4 Jan 2013).
“I hoped we never had to realize all the opportunities we missed in this life.”
Elizabeth Berg (1948) American novelist
Source: The Year of Pleasures