1. After hard work, the biggest determinant is being in the right place at the right time.

Michael Bloomberg (b.1942) U.S. entrepreneur, business executive and Mayor of New York. Newsweek (August 4, 1997)

2. All good fortune is a gift of the gods and you don’t win the favor of the ancient gods by being good but by being bold.

Anita Brookner (b.1928) British novelist and art historian. Quoted in Writers at Work (1988)

3. We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist and director. Attrib.

4. What we call luck is the inner man externalized. We make things happen to us.

Robertson Davies (1913-95) Canadian novelist, playwright and essayist. What’s Bred in the Bone (1985)

5. The man who glories in his luck may be overthrown by destiny.

Euripides (484?-406? B.C.) Greek playwright. The Suppliant Women (421? B.C.)

6. It is a great skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.

Baltasar Gracian (1601-58) Spanish writer and priest. Attrib.

7. With all due respect to Microsoft and Intel, there is no substitute for being in the right place at the right time.

Andrew S. Grove (b.1936) U.S. entrepreneur, author and chairman of Intel Corporation. Fortune (June 1993)

8. Some folk want their luck buttered.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) British novelist and poet. The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)

9. It is on disaster that good fortune perches; it is beneath good fortune that disaster crouches.

Laozi (570?-490? B.C.) Chinese philosopher, reputed founder of Daoism. Daode Jing

10. I think a lot more decisions are made on serendipity than people think. Things come across their radar screens and they jump at them.

Jay W. Lorsch (b.1932) U.S. sociologist. Wall Street Journal (October 1, 1984)

11. Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind. Louis Pasteur (1822-95) French scientist. Address (December 1854)