13 thoughts about luck, on Friday the 13th

Until an Outlook reminder popped up on my screen, I hadn’t realized that today’s Friday the 13th (cue haunting organ music and off-screen shrieks). Seriously, I’ve never been the superstitious type — I believe we are the key catalysts of our own lives. I do realize unanticipated things can happen; but fortunately, we get to choose our response. 

Lucky me, I’m skipping out the door to meet some friends for lunch. Whatever you’ve got planned for today, I wish you the best of luck!

1) Ralph Waldo Emerson: Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

2) Unknown Author: Good luck is often with the man who doesn’t include it in his plans.

3) Sam Goldwyn: The harder I work, the luckier I get. 

4) Jean Cocteau: We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like? 

5) Dr. Armand Hammer: When I work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky. 

6) R. E. Shay: Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit. 

7) Og Mandino: Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow’s good luck.

8) Henry Ward Beecher: I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings, and strictly honest who complained of bad luck. 

9) Thomas Jefferson: I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have. 

10) Frank A. Clark: It’s hard to detect good luck – it looks so much like something you’ve earned. 

11) Swedish Proverb: Luck never gives; it only lends. 

12) Unknown Author: Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers. 

13) Carl Zuckmeyer: One-half of life is luck; the other half is discipline – and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t know what to do with luck.

21 Comments

  1. cool quotes!! i TOTALLY believe in the ‘harder you work the luckier you are’ concept–i’ve heard the craziest things about luck over the years: “oh, your so lucky you’re married to a doctor” (it was lucky to have an awol spouse for 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency? after falling in love for someone who i thought would be a photographer?), ‘you’re so lucky you wrote a book.’ (it’s lucky to slave over a story for 2 years using your *only* free time to write a book?)

    no. these things are NOT luck. what is luck, is sending out queries, crossing your fingers and hoping someone on the other end likes the sound of it. THAT is luck. so FIRST the hard work, THEN the luck. WORK/LUCK combo. me and TJ believe in that. apparently, me and TJ arelikethis (i did tour his home in charlettesville once upon a time) and that is my friday the 13th rant of the day. lucky you. hee. =9

  2. Lunch with good friends sounds fabulous. Hope you’re having fun.
    And I love R. E. Shay’s quote: “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit.”
    LOL! I never quite thought of it that way.

    • I had a delicious time, food and company included. I’m remembering our lunch — wasn’t that fun?

      That quote’s one of my favorites, too. Good food for thought, all of them, even though I’m still full from the big salad I had for lunch. 🙂

  3. Wonderful quotes!

    Carl Zuckmeyer: One-half of life is luck; the other half is discipline – and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t know what to do with luck.

    I really believe this is true in life (assuming a healthy first world existence) and in poker.

    • Your first assumption made me think about that axiom I learned in Bio back in college: Geography is destiny. That’s true in some important ways, isn’t it? And…call me unadventuresome (is that even a word?), but I don’t push my luck with poker.

  5. These are great quotes. I especially like the first one. You most definitely can’t include luck in your plans. Hard work often invites good luck into your life. Thanks for sharing these!!!

  6. I love all these quotes. Luck, like many things, is about perspective, don’t you think? For example, I generally look forward to Friday the 13th. I had a very weird day this past Friday the 13th. And, yet, through it all, I was aware of feeling very lucky!!

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