
„The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.“
— Arthur Conan Doyle, book The Hound of the Baskervilles
Source: The Hound of the Baskervilles
A collection of quotes on the topic of chance, doing, can, use.
„The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.“
— Arthur Conan Doyle, book The Hound of the Baskervilles
Source: The Hound of the Baskervilles
„Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.“
— Démosthenés ancient greek statesman and orator -384 - -322 BC
„A wise man will make more opportunities, than he finds.“
— Francis Bacon, book Essays
Of Ceremonies and Respect
Essays (1625)
Variant: Wise men make more opportunities than they find.
Source: The Essays
„Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.“
— Seneca the Younger Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4 - 65 BC
Has been attributed to Seneca since the 1990s (eg. Gregory K. Ericksen, (1999), Women entrepreneurs only: 12 women entrepreneurs tell the stories of their success, page ix.). Other books ascribe the saying to either Darrell K. Royal (former American football player, born 1924) or Elmer G. Letterman (Insurance salesman and writer, 1897-1982). However, it is unlikely either man originated the saying. A version that reads "He is lucky who realizes that luck is the point where preparation meets opportunity" can be found (unattributed) in the 1912 The Youth's Companion: Volume 86. The quote might be a distortion of the following passage by Seneca (who makes no mention of "luck" and is in fact quoting his friend Demetrius the Cynic):<blockquote>"The best wrestler," he would say, "is not he who has learned thoroughly all the tricks and twists of the art, which are seldom met with in actual wrestling, but he who has well and carefully trained himself in one or two of them, and watches keenly for an opportunity of practising them." — Seneca, On Benefits, vii. 1 http://thriceholy.net/Texts/Benefits4.html</blockquote>
Disputed
„Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.“
— Franz Liszt Hungarian romantic composer and virtuoso pianist 1811 - 1886
„In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity“
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
„I will prepare and some day my chance will come.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
Attributed in Laura Haddock (1931), Steps Upward in Personality
Misattributed
Variant: I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.
„Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.“
— Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Source: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
„If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door“
— Milton Berle American comedian and actor 1908 - 2002
Variant: If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
„No man was ever wise by chance.“
— Seneca the Younger Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4 - 65 BC
Total 2159 quotes chance, filter:
— Charles Bukowski American writer 1920 - 1994
"The Meaning of Life: The Big Picture", Life Magazine (December 1988)
Interviews
— Maryam Mirzakhani Iranian mathematician 1977 - 2017
Interview with Research Fellow Maryam Mirzakhani | january 2008
„The chance to overcome another challenge is simply, as I always feel, a blessing.“
— Yuzuru Hanyu Japanese figure skater (1994-) 1994
Other quotes, 2014
Original: (ja) 次のもう一個の課題を克服するチャンスが来たっていうのは、それはもうただただ、いつも思うように、こんな恵まれたことはないですよ。
Source: Interview with Shuzo Matsuoka, aired 9 December 2014 in 報道ステーション (Hodo Station) on TV Asahi.
— Jimmy Carter American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981) 1924
Variant: My faith demands - this is not optional - my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.
— Marie Curie French-Polish physicist and chemist 1867 - 1934
Lecture at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York (14 May 1921)
„Never miss a good chance to shut up.“
— Will Rogers American humorist and entertainer 1879 - 1935
The Manly Wisdom of Will Rogers (2001)
— Suman Pokhrel Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist 1967
<span class="plainlinks"> Foreword, 'Tales of Transformation: English Translation of Tagore's Chitrangada and Chandalika', Lopamudra Banerjee, (2018). https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DQPD8F4/</span>
From Prose
— Muhammad Ali, book The Soul of a Butterfly
Source: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey
„Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up.“
— Thomas Wolfe, book You Can't Go Home Again
Source: You Can't Go Home Again
„Only someone who is well prepared has the opportunity to improvise.“
— Ingmar Bergman Swedish filmmaker 1918 - 2007
„Was there any human urge more pitiful-or more intense- than wanting another chance at something?“
— Joe Hill Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World 1879 - 1915
Source: NOS4A2
„A man deserves a second chance, but keep an eye on him.“
— John Wayne American film actor 1907 - 1979
„We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.“
— Charles Bukowski American writer 1920 - 1994
„Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.“
— William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair
Source: Vanity Fair
„Chance is necessity hidden behind a veil.“
— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach Austrian writer 1830 - 1916
Der Zufall ist die in Schleier gehüllte Notwendigkeit.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 20.
— Suman Pokhrel Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist 1967
<span class="plainlinks"> Foreword, 'Tales of Transformation: English Translation of Tagore's Chitrangada and Chandalika', Lopamudra Banerjee, (2018). https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DQPD8F4/</span>
From Prose
— T. B. Joshua Nigerian Christian leader 1963
On destiny - "The Shock Of Reality" http://allafrica.com/stories/200908240244.html All Africa (August 24 2009)
— Leonardo DiCaprio American actor and film producer 1974
http://www.flixster.com/actor/leonardo-di-caprio/leonardo-dicaprio-quotes
— Harry Schwarz South African activist 1924 - 2010
Speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C, April 1991.
As ambassador to the United States
Source: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-05-16/news/1991136167_1_south-africa-schwarz-frances-academy
„I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake.“
— Leopold II of Belgium King of the Belgians 1835 - 1909
Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent From 1876 to 1912, New York: Avon Books, 1992, 22.
— Emma Watson British actress and model 1990
The "Burke quote" she uses here is a common but disputed attribution.
UN Speech on the HeForShe campaign (2014)
Context: You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing speaking at the UN. And it’s a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.
And having seen what I’ve seen — and given the chance — I feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words might be helpful.
„It is just as much a matter of chance that I am still alive as that I might have been hit.“
— Erich Maria Remarque, book All Quiet on the Western Front
Source: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), Ch. 6
Context: It is just as much a matter of chance that I am still alive as that I might have been hit. In a bomb-proof dugout I might have been smashed to atoms, and in the open survive ten hours' bombardment unscathed. No soldier survives a thousand chances. But every soldier believes in Chance and trusts his luck.
— Chris Martin musician, co-founder of Coldplay 1977
http://www.metroguiltypleasures.com/metro/coldplays-chris-martin-is-a-modern-day-shakespeare-says-jay-z/ source
— William Jennings Bryan United States Secretary of State 1860 - 1925
"America's Mission", speech delivered by the leader of the Democratic Party at the Washington Day banquet given by the Virginia Democratic Association at Washington, D.C., (22 February 1899), as published in The Book of Public Speaking (Vol. 2) http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Book_of_Public_Speaking_v2_1000538531/149
— Steve Jobs American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc. 1955 - 2011
A comment he made in persuading John Sculley to become Apple's CEO, as quoted in Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple: A Journey of Adventure, Ideas, and the Future (1987) by John Sculley and John A. Byrne
1980s
„You got to be ready to die every day - then you got a chance.“
— Daniel Woodrell Novelist 1953
Source: Winter's Bone
— Thich Nhat Hanh Religious leader and peace activist 1926
Source: Buddha Mind, Buddha Body: Walking Toward Enlightenment
„Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.“
— Paul Theroux American travel writer and novelist 1941
New York Times (July 28, 1976).
— Louis Armstrong American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer 1901 - 1971
Spoken intro to "What a Wonderful World" (1970 version)
Context: Seems to me, it aint the world that's so bad but what we're doin' to it. And all I'm saying is, see, what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love baby, love. That's the secret, yeah. If lots more of us loved each other, we'd solve lots more problems. And then this world would be a gasser. That's wha' ol' Pops keeps saying.
Context: Some of you young folks been saying to me, "Hey Pops, what you mean 'What a wonderful world'? How about all them wars all over the place? You call them wonderful? And how about hunger and pollution? That aint so wonderful either." Well how about listening to old Pops for a minute. Seems to me, it aint the world that's so bad but what we're doin' to it. And all I'm saying is, see, what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love baby, love. That's the secret, yeah. If lots more of us loved each other, we'd solve lots more problems. And then this world would be a gasser. That's wha' ol' Pops keeps saying.
— Jimmy Carter American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981) 1924
„Life offers you a thousand chances… all you have to do is take one.“
— Frances Mayes, book Under the Tuscan Sun
Source: Under the Tuscan Sun
— John Keats English Romantic poet 1795 - 1821
then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.
"When I have fears that I may cease to be" (1817)
Source: The Complete Poems
— Dr. Seuss American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books 1904 - 1991
Source: Oh, The Places You'll Go!
— Douglas Adams, book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Source: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
— Bob Schieffer Journalist, Anchor for CBS News 1937
Source: This Just in: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV
„I suppose if I gave myself the chance I could be an alcoholic.“
— Sylvia Plath American poet, novelist and short story writer 1932 - 1963
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
— David Lynch American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor 1946
„Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.“
— Robert Frost, In the Clearing
"Forgive, O Lord," In the Clearing (1962)
First published in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin (12 November 1960), p. 157 http://books.google.com/books?id=9J_lAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Forgive+O+Lord+my+little+jokes+on+Thee+And+I'll+forgive+Thy+great+big+one+on+me%22&pg=PA157#v=onepage
1960s
Variant: Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
„I don’t regret the things I’ve done. I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.“
— Harlan Coben, book Missing You
Source: Missing You
— Roberto Clemente Puerto Rican baseball player 1934 - 1972
As quoted in "Clemente Says He is Very Happy" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=42oeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QckEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1983%2C4221206 by the Associated Press, in The Daytona Beach Morning Journal (October 16, 1971), p. 1-C
Other, <big><big>1970s</big></big>, <big>1971</big>
— Greg Egan Australian science fiction writer and former computer programmer 1961
The Demon's Passage http://eidolon.net/?story=The%20Demons%20Passage
Fiction
— Averroes, book On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy
Part 1: The Creation of the Universe; Opening sentence
On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy
— Sukirti Kandpal Indian actress 1987
On participating in Miss India Worldwide 2011 pageant https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Sukirti-took-part-in-a-beauty-pageant/articleshow/8556405.cms/
On participating in Miss India Worldwide 2011 pageant Part-2 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Sukirti-From-vampires-to-beauty-pageants/articleshow/8187416.cms/
— Pink (singer) American singer-songwriter 1979
Leave Me Alone, written by Pink and Butch Walker
Song lyrics, I'm Not Dead (2006)
— Alan Parsons audio engineer, musician, and record producer from England 1948
"Silence and I", from the album Eye In The Sky. (Written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.)
Quotes from songs
— Ronald Fisher, book The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection
On the objection (still often made by creationists) that the theory of evolution predicts evolution occurs "only by chance", Ch. 2, p. 37.
The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (1930)
— Ursula K. Le Guin, Hainish Cycle
Source: Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Chapter 18 “On the Ice” (p. 249)
— Ted Bundy American serial killer 1946 - 1989
1984 interview with Detective Robert Keppel (regarding the Green River Killer)
„This is the chance to fulfill a dream.“
— Elon Musk South African-born American entrepreneur 1971
Conversation: Elon Musk on Wired Science (2007)
— The Mother spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo 1878 - 1973
On developing her inner experiences, as narrated in later years to her disciples at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, in "Birth and Girlhood", also in The Mother On Herself http://www.miraura.org/bio/herself.html
— Edvard Munch Norwegian painter and printmaker 1863 - 1944
It was not just I who was suffering; it was all my nearest and dearest as well.
Edvard Munch talks to Jens Tiis, c. 1933, Munch Museum; as quoted in Edvard Much – behind the scream, Sue Prideaux; Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007, pp. 85-86
after 1930
— Cate Blanchett Australian actress 1969
Cate Blanchett: 'Getting Married Is Insanity', People Magazine, 12 January 2007 http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20008317,00.html,
„The more devils we have within us, the more chance we have to form angels.“
— Nikos Kazantzakis, book The Last Temptation of Christ
Source: The Last Temptation of Christ (1951), Ch. 10
— James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce British academic, jurist, historian and Liberal politician 1838 - 1922
Speech to the Women's National Liberal Association Conference, Memorial Hall, London (12 June 1901), quoted in The Times (13 June 1901), p. 12.
1900s
— Ted Bundy American serial killer 1946 - 1989
1984 interview with Detective Robert Keppel (regarding the Green River Killer)
— Paris Hilton American socialite 1981
As quoted at ABC News (11 June 2007) http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3264588
— Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned wife of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani 1958
Speech at Jazz at Lincoln Centre; quoted on official website http://www.mozabintnasser.qa/en/Pages/ArticlePreview.aspx?ArticleGuid=de04d373-9eaa-46c8-9f4d-033ff7b8fe1f&Type=Speech# (May 16 2013)
— Gloria Estefan Cuban-American singer-songwriter, actress and divorciada 1957
Christmas Through Your Eyes
2007, 2008
— Conor McGregor Irish mixed martial artist and boxer 1988
"UFC 196 post-event press conference" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfu31-vEwgo (March 2016), Ultimate Fighting Championship, Zuffa, LLC
2010s, 2016
— Edward Snowden American whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor 1983
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/edward-snowden-after-months-of-nsa-revelations-says-his-missions-accomplished/2013/12/23/49fc36de-6c1c-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html 2013 Christmas Message