Quotes about a chance
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“Rose doesn’t like the flat country, but I always did – flat country seems to give the sky such a chance.”

Source: I Capture the Castle

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Motivation, Light, Motivational, Deep

“Life gives you lots of chances to screw up which means you have just as many chances to get it right.”

Candace Bushnell book Sex and the City

Source: Sex and the City

Life

“He fought as he wished he had all those years ago, for the chance he had missed. In that moment between storms--when the rain stilled and the winds drew in their breaths to blow--he danced with the slayer of kings, and somehow held his own.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

Dance

“I have a whole guard room full of brawny veterans who'd enjoy a chance to drag two Eddisians out of here, particularly if you kicked a lot and they could kick you back.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

“My entire life has felt like chance. Random moments of loss and connection. This is the first one that feels, instead, like fate.”

Christina Baker Kline (1964) American writer

Source: Orphan Train

Life, Fate, Feeling, Loss

“We'd spent maybe ten minutes together, during which time I'd accidentally swung a sword at her, she'd saved my life, and I'd run away chased by a band of supernatural killing machines. You know, your typical chance meeting.”

Rick Riordan book The Battle of the Labyrinth

Source: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Life, Time

“Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”

Alan Moore book Watchmen

Source: Watchmen

Thinking

“Trouble is just like love, after all; it comes in unannounced and takes over before you've had a chance to reconsider, or even to think.”

Alice Hoffman book Practical Magic

Source: Practical Magic

Love, Thinking

“The more a man knows about himself in relation to every kind of experience, the greater his chance of suddenly, one fine morning, realizing who in fact he is…”

Aldous Huxley book Island

Source: Island

“But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.”

Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Source: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.”

Octavia E. Butler book Kindred

Source: Kindred

Pain, People, Sleep

“You must behave as if return is certain, not a matter of chance", Jem said.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“There would be no chance to get to know death at all… if it happened only once.”

Sogyal Rinpoche (1947–2019) Tibetan Dzogchen lama of the Nyingma tradition

Death

“Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the Universe---in fact, random chance was not sufficient to explain random chance; the pot could not hold itself.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Stranger in a Strange Land

Source: Stranger in a Strange Land

Universe

“No, not you two. Stay here.'
'Does he just not get how unfair and sexist that is?' Eve asked. 'Men.'
'You really want to go first?'
'Of course no. But I'd like the chance toto go first.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Lord of Misrule

Men

“I wonder if what makes a family a family isn't doing everything right all the time but, instead, giving a second chance to the people you love who do things wrong.”

Jodi Picoult book Lone Wolf

Source: Lone Wolf

Love, People, Family, Time

“There is no sense in loving someone you can never wake up to except by chance.”

Jeanette Winterson book The Passion

Source: The Passion

Love, Sense

“If you want to give yourself a fair chance to succeed, never expect too much too soon”

Po Bronson (1964) American writer

“Would you mind getting off that fly paper and giving the flies a chance?"
"Ahhh, you can't trick me! Flies don't read papers!”

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian

Reading, Flying

“What I want is for the two of us to meet somewhere by chance one day, like, passing on the street, or getting on the same bus.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

“Time ticks by; we grow older. Before we know it, too much time has passed and we've missed the chance to have had people hurt us. To a younger me this sounded like luck; to an older me this sounded like a quiet tragedy.”

Douglas Coupland book Life After God

Source: Life After God (1994)

People, Time, Hurt

“Don’t leave your relationships to chance. Pray for godly people to come into your life with whom you can connect. Don’t force relationships to happen. Pray for them to happen. Then when they do, nurture them with prayer.”

Stormie Omartian (1942) American writer

Source: The Power of a Praying® Woman

Life, People

“We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet; and amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog has made an alliance with us.”

Max DePree (1924–2017) American businessman and writer

Life, Dogs

“On the off chance that you have children, don't clean up at all. As children, my brother and sister and I loved waking up early and playing cocktail party with the leftover debris”

Amy Sedaris (1961) American comedian

Love, Children, Sister

“We don't go to the ocean for anything as simple as happiness, do we? We
go there to feel alive. Like life, the ocean holds chance and change, grief and terror and beauty. It promises mortality, not peace.”

Eileen Wilks Tempting Danger

Source: Tempting Danger

Life, Happiness, Peace, Beauty

“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me a chance to do my best.”

Karen Blixen (1885–1962) Danish writer

Source: Babette's Feast and Other Anecdotes of Destiny

World, Heart, Cry

“Even chance meetings are the result of karma… Things in life are fated by our previous lives. That even in the smallest events there’s no such thing as coincidence.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

Life, Fate

“A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o'clock runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.”

Emily Brontë book Wuthering Heights

Nelly Dean (Ch. VII).
Source: Wuthering Heights (1847)

Personality

“Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.”

Sammy Hagar (1947) American musician

Birthday, Birthday

“I've learned that if you wait long enough, you might get a second chance at something you gave up on. And sometimes you'll be the one to give the second chance to someone else.”

Wendy Mass (1967) American children's writer

Source: 13 Gifts

Learning, Waiting

“Knowing that wishes don’t always come about in the way that we think, but if you believe and keep your mind open, there’s a really good chance they will manifest in some way.”

Alyson Nöel (1965) writer

Source: Night Star

Way, Thinking

“Sleep every chance you get. Eat every chance you get. Those were two of the many lessons that Kat learned at her father’s knee and her uncle’s table.”

Ally Carter (1974) American writer

Source: Perfect Scoundrels

Sleep, Learning

“If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one's chances of survival increase with each book one reads.”

Sherman Alexie (1966) Native American author and filmmaker

Books, Reading, Fight

“Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

Way, Problem

“Play along, the wink said. I'll get you out of this.

At least Artemis hoped this was what his wink communicated and not something like 'Any chance of another kiss later?”

Eoin Colfer (1965) Irish author of children's books

Source: The Time Paradox

Hope, Communication, Kiss

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste. And so that never again can we have the chance to see ourselves single, separate, vertical and individual in the world, part of the environment of trees and rocks and soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and competent to belong in it. … We need wilderness preserved — as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds — because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it.”

Wallace Stegner (1909–1993) American historian, writer, and environmentalist

Wilderness Letter http://wilderness.org/bios/former-council-members/wallace-stegner (1960) <br class="br">Source: The Sound of Mountain Water

People, Health, Books, World

“A danger of travel is that we see things at the wrong time, before we have had a chance to build up the necessary receptivity and when new information is therefore as useless and fugitive as necklace beads without a connecting chain.”

Alain de Botton (1969) Swiss writer

Source: The Art of Travel

Travel, Time

“Laughter separates us from despair and gives us a chance at love.”

Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…

During a dinner discussion with Kristen Bell and Jean Reno. Filmed for a week of shows in Paris, France.
2011-08-05 broadcast
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–2014)

Love, Laughter, Despair

“If, instead, you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to 100 percent that you are dealing with a sociopath.”

Martha Stout (1953) American psychologist

Source: The Sociopath Next Door

People, Hurt

“In order for us to liberate the energy of our strength, our weakness must first have a chance to reveal itself.”

Paulo Coelho book The Witch of Portobello

Source: The Witch of Portobello

“Turn soft and lovely anytime you have the chance.”

Jenny Holzer (1950) American conceptual artist

Love

“Why don't you ever wait a second and see what I'm planning, or thinking, before you burst in with your opinions and ideas? You never even give me a chance.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Someone Like You

Idea, Thinking, Waiting

“So what if they were in Tartarus? So what if they stood a slim chance of surviving? He was so glad that they were together, he had the ridiculous urge to smile.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Smile

“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”

Duke Ellington (1899–1974) American jazz musician, composer and band leader

Source: Music is My Mistress

Problem, Motivational, Attitude, Positive

“Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes!”

Joanna Cole (1944) American children's books author

“Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it’s now or never.”

Alan Bennett (1934) English actor, author

Time

“He’s a restless soul, always looking for another chance to drive,’ Nico said. ‘The last few years, he’s been my driver whenever I need one.’
‘You have a zombie chauffeur,’ Leila said.”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

Soul

“But when you started dating someone, you could never be sure what you were getting into. You had to give someone a chance to show you who he really was… and believe him when he did.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Blue-Eyed Devil

“bad things, like good things don't happen any more often than they ought to by chance. the universe has no mind, no feelings, and no personality, so it doesn't do things in order to either hurt or please you. bad things happen because things happen.”

Richard Dawkins book The Magic of Reality

Source: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

Feeling, Universe, Hurt, Personality

“Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.”

Stephen King book The Suicide Prince

Source: End of Watch

“But chance runs like a river through all our lives, and being prepared for surprise is the best we can do.”

Kenneth Oppel Skybreaker

Source: Skybreaker

“I wanted to tell him so. Find the right words, string them together in the ideal way, knowing that here they would have the best chance of sounding perfect.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Way, Perfection

“I thought you needed to be tougher. But I've been thinking that protecting somebody by hurting them before someone else gets the chance isn't the kind of protecting that anybody wants.”

Holly Black book Doll Bones

Source: Doll Bones

Thinking, Hurt

“Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out is mute. Only chance can speak to us. We read its message much as gypsies read the images made by coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup.”

Milan Kundera book The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Source: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Coffee, Reading

“You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump - nowwas brave."
"Or pretty stupid."
"Percy, you're a brave guy," she said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?”

Rick Riordan book The Demigod Files

Source: The Demigod Files

Stupidity, Guy

“You want the fairy tale."
"I want a chance at it.”

Rachel Gibson (1961) American writer

Source: I'm In No Mood For Love

“Revolutions are not born of chance but of necessity.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

“If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can lose her chance forever.
-An-mei”

Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club

Source: The Joy Luck Club

“You only like guys you don't have a chance with, because you're scared.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Guy

“Undeveloped, the whole thing, tossed into a box before we really had a chance to know what we had, and that's why we broke up.”

Daniel Handler book Why We Broke Up

Source: Why We Broke Up

Box

“When we think about the present, we veer wildly between the belief in chance and the evidence in favour of determinism. When we think about the past, however, it seems obvious that everything happened in the way that it was intended.”

Michel Houellebecq book Atomised

Source: The Elementary Particles

Way, Thinking, Past

“I don’t want to speak too disparagingly of my generation (actually I do, we had a chance to change the world but opted for the Home Shopping Network Instead)…”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Source: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

World, Home, Change

“All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy.”

Spike Milligan (1918–2002) British-Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor

Money, Happiness

“I often feel sorry for people who don't read good books; they are missing a chance to lead an extra life.”

Scott Corbett (1913–2006) American children's writer

Life, People, Books, Feeling

“We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events.”

Daniel Kahneman book Thinking, Fast and Slow

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow

World, Understanding

“Every relationship is an education. Each new person we welcome into our hearts is a chance to evolve into something radically different than we used to be. But what happens when those people disappear from our lives?”

Brian K. Vaughan (1976) American screenwriter, comic book creator

Source: Saga #30

People, Education, Heart, Personality

“We live out our lives as we are meant to live them-with some choice, with some chance, but mostly as a result of the persons we are.”

Terry Brooks The Druid of Shannara

Source: The Druid of Shannara

Personality

“Also, I could finally sleep. And this was the real gift, because when you cannot sleep, you cannot get yourself out of the ditch--there's not a chance.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Sleep

“God always offers us a second chance in life.”

Paulo Coelho book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Source: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Life, God

“This was just one night, one chance to vary and see where it took me. The fireflies were probably already out: maybe it wasn’t just a season or a time but a whole world I’d forgotten. I’d never know until I stepped out into it. So I did.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

World, Time, Night, Season

“She took a deep breath, "Last chance. Are you in need of rescuing?"
His expression turned very strange, almost as if she'd struck him, "Yes," he said finally.”

Holly Black book The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Source: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

“A society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated…”

Khaled Hosseini book A Thousand Splendid Suns

Source: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Women, Success

“I wonder if I could eat a child if I had the chance.'
'I doubt if I could cook one,' said Constance.”

Shirley Jackson book We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Source: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Cooking

“What was that you showed Sonya?”
Dimitri suddenly joined Rose on the screen. She shot him an amused look. “Easy, comrade. You’ll get your chance to lecture them too.”
“Geez,” said Adrian. “How many other people are there lurking off-screen?”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: The Ruby Circle

People

“I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.”

Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist

Dreams, Thinking, Reading

“They say a hundred-and-thirty-pound woman has no chance against an athletic two-hundred-pound man. That's a lie. You just have to make the decision to hurt him and then do it.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Burn for Me

Lie, Decision, Hurt

“I'd have to kill Dimitri for real this time and lose any chance I might have to bring back my prince. Damn. It's a good thing I work well under pressure.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Time

“They were two lovely choices. One of them meant giving up every chance of a decent life forever… and the other one scared me out of my mind.”

Frederik Pohl book Gateway

Source: Gateway

Love, Life

“I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.”

Aleister Crowley book The Book of the Law

I:29.
Source: The Book of the Law (1904)

Love

“If any religion had a chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

Religion

“And there comes a time in your life when you realize that if you don't take the opportunity to be happy, you may never get another chance again.”

Richard Russo Empire Falls

Source: Empire Falls

Life, Happiness, Time

“I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get”

Anne Tyler (1941) American novelist

“We should read to give our souls a chance to luxuriate.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Soul, Reading

“Equality is treating everyone the same. But equity is taking differences into account, so everyone has a chance to succeed.”

Jodi Picoult book Small Great Things

Source: Small Great Things

“This is our big chance to see what people think of us. The real us. We have to show em there's nothing to be afraid of. If we don't get over our fears, they never will.”

Lisi Harrison Monster High

Source: Monster High

People, Fear, Thinking

“Let's face it: a date is a job-interview, that lasts all night. The only difference between a date and a job interview is: not many job-interviews is there a chance you'll end up naked at the end of it.”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

I'm Telling You for the Last Time (1998)
Context: What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night? The only difference is there aren't many job interviews where there's a chance you'll end up naked at the end of it. "Well, Bill, the boss thinks you're the right man for the job; why don't you strip down and meet some of the people you'll be working with?"

Night

“Since when do we even play games?”

“Since when don’t we play games? Games of life, games of death. Games of love, of hope, of chance, of despair, and of all the myriad wonders in between.”

I rolled my eyes at the newcomer. “Hello, Carter.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus on Top

Love, Life, Death, Hope