Luck Quotes: Wisdom on Fortune, Opportunity, and Hard Work
These luck quotes explore the balance between fate and effort, offering insight into how belief, mindset, and action can shape how we experience luck.
At Resilient Stories, we know that luck isn’t just about chance—it’s about preparation, mindset, and taking action.
Understanding luck can help shape resilience, encourage optimism, and inspire us to take control of our paths.
What is luck?
Is it pure coincidence, or do we have a hand in shaping it?
Research in psychology suggests that people with an internal locus of control—who believe they influence their outcomes—tend to be more resilient, adaptable, and mentally strong.
Whether you’re looking for motivation, reassurance, or just a fresh perspective, these quotes will help you reflect on how fortune and perseverance go hand in hand.
Core Pillars of an Internal Locus of Control
When you focus on what you can control, you’re more likely to take opportunities, persist through challenges, and create success.
In Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo exclaims, “Oh, I am fortune’s fool!” he expresses the feeling that fate has cruelly determined his destiny, leaving him powerless over his own life.
This idea of luck versus control is central to understanding an internal locus of control—while external forces like chance or fate may influence events, our responses, decisions, and resilience shape our long-term outcomes.
Unlike Romeo, who sees himself as a victim of bad luck, cultivating an internal locus of control allows us to take charge of our actions, adapt to challenges, and create opportunities, rather than feeling at the mercy of fate.
Self-Responsibility – Taking ownership of your actions, choices, and outcomes.
Growth Mindset & Resilience – Viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and persist through setbacks.
Proactive Decision-Making – Focusing on solutions, setting goals, and taking action instead of waiting for circumstances to change.
Emotional Regulation – Managing stress and emotions to stay in control of reactions and decisions.
Adaptability & Accountability – Adjusting to challenges and taking ownership of both successes and failures.
Luck Quotes About Fortune and Fate
Luck is often seen as a mysterious force—some people seem to have it in abundance, while others feel it constantly evades them.
But is luck just chance, or is it something we influence?
“Luck never made a man wise.” — Seneca
“Luck is believing you’re lucky.” — Tennessee Williams
“The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” — Harry Golden
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” — Seneca
“Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit.” — R.E. Shay
“A man forgets his good luck next day, but remembers his bad luck until next year.” — E.W. Howe
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” — Dalai Lama XIV
“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?” — Jean Cocteau
“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” — Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men
Hard Work vs. Luck: Quotes That Show the Power of Effort
One of the biggest debates about luck is whether it’s more important than hard work.
Can you succeed without luck, or is luck just an excuse for effort?
These quotes about luck highlight the relationship between persistence and luck.
“Luck favors the prepared mind.” — Louis Pasteur
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.” — Benjamin Franklin
“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” — Samuel Goldwyn
“Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.” — Earl Wilson
“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.” — Douglas MacArthur
“You can’t sit around waiting for luck to find you. Go out and create it.” — Unknown
“Luck is not chance, it’s toil. Fortune’s expensive smile is earned.” — Emily Dickinson
“Success is 90% hard work and 10% luck, but don’t underestimate that 10%.” — Unknown
“It takes more than luck to have lasting success—it takes persistence, courage, and effort.” — Unknown
“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” — Thomas Jefferson
Luck Quotes on Perspective and an Internal Locus of Control
Your mindset about luck can directly affect your resilience.
If you believe you can influence your circumstances, you’re more likely to take action and make things happen.
These inspirational quotes explore how attitude and perception affect “luck.
“You must create your own opportunities.” — John Galsworthy
“A wise man turns chance into good fortune.” — Thomas Fuller
“What we call luck is the inner man externalized.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience.” — Unknown
“We are all a great deal luckier than we realize; we usually get what we deserve.” — Unknown
“Not everything is in your control, but your response is. That’s where your power lies.” — Unknown
“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Your thoughts shape your reality. If you believe you’re unlucky, you will be. If you believe you can create luck, you will.” — Unknown
“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” — Brian Tracy
“When one door closes, another opens—but we often look so long at the closed door that we don’t see the one that has opened for us.” — Alexander Graham Bell
Famous Sayings and Quotes About Luck
These well-known luck quotes have stood the test of time, offering timeless wisdom about fate, fortune, and the unexpected turns of life.
“Luck is the idol of the idle.” — Seneca
“Fortune favors the brave.” — Latin Proverb
“Fortune sides with him who dares.” — Virgil
“Better an ounce of luck than a pound of gold.” — Yiddish Proverb
“When it comes to luck, you make your own.” — Bruce Springsteen
“The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.” — Wilson Mizner
“If you’re lucky enough to be different, don’t ever change.” — Taylor Swift
“It’s hard to detect good luck—it looks so much like something you’ve earned.” — Frank A. Clark
“Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves.” — Larry King
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison
Quote About The Myth of Dumb Luck: Is It Just Chance?
Some people believe in dumb luck—the idea that success happens by pure chance, without effort or skill.
But is that really the case?
“Concentration attracts luck factor.” — Amit Ray
“Luck is an accident that happens to the competent.” — Albert M. Greenfield
“There’s an awful lot of luck and accident in the world.” — Michael Lewis
“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.” — Douglas MacArthur
“Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck.” — George Orson Welles
“The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act.” — Barbara Sher
“Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it.” — Hunter S. Thompson
“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work – and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” — Lucille Ball
“I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way, and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a badass.” — Shonda Rhimes
“No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you. All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” — Mark Cuban
Are You Lucky, or Are You Making Your Own Luck?
Luck is a mix of mindset, effort, and being in the right place at the right time.
But the biggest lesson from these luck quotes is, the more proactive you are, the “luckier” you become.
Can your mindset change your luck?
Yes!
Those who cultivate a sense of personal responsibility and resilience tend to feel “luckier” because they take action when opportunities arise.
How do successful people create their own luck?
Studies show that those who work hard and remain open to opportunities have a higher chance of “lucky breaks.”
Does luck exist, or do we create it?
The answer lies in how we interpret and respond to life’s events.
A resilient mindset helps us see opportunities in setbacks and learn from challenges.
Do you believe in luck, or do you believe in making your own?
How has your mindset about luck influenced your life?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Let’s talk about how luck, resilience, and effort shape success.
👉
