Selected opportunity quotes

1. If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.

2. Lest Arab governments be tempted out of sheer routine to rush into impulsive rejection, let me suggest that tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.

3. I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.

4. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

5. A lot of girls ask for advice on how to get into acting, and I'm kind of the worst person to ask, because it just kind of fell in my lap... I was just in the right place at the right time.

6. Patzer sees a check, gives a check.

7. It took me years to figure out that you don't fall into a tub of butter, you jump for it.

8. Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.

9. Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint.

10. Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.

11. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.

12. We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.

13. I'm in a weird band. We've done very well. The American Dream is alive and well.

14. How many a thing which we cast to the ground, When others pick it up, becomes a gem!

15. The keen spirit Seizes the prompt occasion, makes the thought Start into instant action, and at once Plans and performs, resolves and executes!

16. Many people miss opportunity because it came disguised in overalls.

17. Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.

18. Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.

19. You convey too great a compliment when you say that I have earned the right to the presidential nomination. No man can establish such an obligation upon any part of the American people. My country owes me no debt. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope. My whole life has taught me what America means. I am indebted to my country beyond any human power to repay.

20. One chance is all you need.

21. Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.

22. I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.

23. I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

24. When the sun shineth, make hay.

25. The tide tarrieth no man.

26. I see the new Latin artist as a pioneer, opening up doors for others to follow. And when they don't open, we crowbar our way in.

27. Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience ... it's just chance that I happened to be here at this particular time when there was available and at my disposal the great experience of all the investigators who plodded along for a number of years.

28. Every dog must have his day.

29. The time for your labor has been granted.

30. Don't be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.

31. Now we are expected to be as wise as men who have had generations of all the help there is, and we scarcely anything.

32. People think that at the top there isn't much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top.

33. You can't sleep your way into being a star. It takes much, much more. But it helps a lot of actresses get their first chance that way.

34. Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

35. A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing.

36. Hold the fleet angel fast until he bless thee.

37. If one cannot catch a bird of paradise, better take a wet hen.

38. Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

39. I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.

40. Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish.

41. My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential.

42. Opportunity is like a bald-headed man with only a patch of hair right in front. You have to grab that hair, grasp the opportunity while it's confronting you, else you'll be grasping a slick bald head.

43. I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, 'I want to play with your band,' and he said, 'Sure, you do anything you want.'

44. 'It is well said: 'He who lacks a single tael sees many bargains,'' replied Sun Wei, a refined bitterness weighing the import of his words. 'Truly this person's friends in the Upper Air are a never-failing lantern behind his back.'

45. Mon centre cede, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque.

46. The American people from bitter experience have a rightful fear that great business units might be used to dominate our industrial life and by illegal and unethical practices destroy equality of opportunity...

47. 'If one is born with talent, one can have a wonderful life.'

48. The Irishman, finding himself in another environment, outside Ireland, very often knows how to make his worth felt. The economic and intellectual conditions of his homeland do not permit the individual to develop. The spirit of the country has been weakened by centuries of useless struggle and broken treaties. Individual initiative has been paralyzed by the influence and admonitions of the church, while the body has been shackled by peelers, duty officers and soldiers. No self-respecting person wants to stay in Ireland. Instead he will run from it, as if from a country that has been subjected to a visitation by an angry Jove.

49. I feel fortunate just to do different things, you know. We were born in Bossier City, Louisiana, grew up very poor. And to be able to come out and to make films & to make music, it's just a tremendous opportunity. I'm just grateful to do both.

50. A great storm destroys much that is precious, but it may also clear the air and blow down trees which might have been obscuring the view and making our life stuffy, and reveal in our estate possibilities of development that we had not thought of.

51. As you would expect when individualism is based only on opportunity, no one asks what happens to those who have neither the financial nor the political clout to exercise their tiny portion of that opportunity.

52. If the chance ever comes to you to fall in love, grab it, every time. You might always live to regret it, but you won't find anything to beat it, and you won't know if it will come to you once more.

53. 'Bosie [from the movie Wilde] was the first part I was ever offered, which I suppose is sort of an insult because he's just the nastiest bastard!'

54. 'We remain dedicated to accomplishing greater social justice through a fairer sharing of wealth and opportunity. We will stay the course, because it is right for Fiji.'

55. With all this manure around, there's got to be a pony someplace.

56. I knew a couple of things... during the war years they came out with reprints of all the Dumas novels, Moby Dick, for the servicement, and I saw this and believe me I'm a very sharp merchandiser, and I say this is the new marketplace for writing: original paperback books.

57. You would never have the time. I would love to change your mind. You were there. And it was good in the beginning. ~ 'Crystal Village'

58. Limiting access to opportunity to those with a diploma is a crass denial of all fundamental beliefs--beliefs, by the way, that have been amply validated by experience. ...[it] restricts, oppresses, and injures individual and society alike.

59. Once lost, Jupiter himself cannot bring back opportunity.

60. As Themistocles answered Seriphian who was abusing him and saying that he was famous not for his own merits but because he was an Athenian: 'If you had been a native of my country or I of yours, neither of us would have been famous.'

61. Learning is not a gift, it's a privilege.

62. I believe in the future of television! I wish to be ready to go up right along with it. Therefore I'm planning to get in on the ground floor. In fact I've already made the right connections and all that remains is for the industry itself to get under way! Full steam - Knowledge - Zzzzzp! Money - Zzzzzp! - Power!

63. I was doing Sorcerer's Apprentice with Mickey Mouse and I happened to have dinner on night with Leopold Stokowski. And Stokowski said, 'Oh, I'd love to conduct that for you.' ... Well, that led to not only doing this one little short subject but it got us involved to where I did all of Fantasia and before I knew it I ended up spending four hundred and some thousand dollars getting music with Stokowski. But we were in then and it was the point of no return. We went ahead and made it.

64. The opportunities are still there.

65. Variant: We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity.

66. Well, then it is necessary to make the attempt, since the entire offensive has no more than a 10 per cent chance of success. It must be done, since this offensive is the last remaining chance to conclude the war favourably.

67. Turn away no more; Why wilt thou turn away? The starry floor, The watery shore,> Is given thee till the break of day.

68. Good research clearly indicates that Americans would support affirmative action programs that capture the idea of equal opportunity.

69. Education is equipping our children to walk through doors of opportunity.

70. It is not our background that will count but our individual actions and initiatives. Education is the great leveller: irrespective of origin, it places everyone on the same footing.

71. 'It's rather like a Poe story, isn't it,' said Patrick luxuriously, unfocusing his eyes. 'A person sees the chance of a better life passing by, and he makes as if to call out' - he flung one arm in the imploring gesture of a soul in torment - 'but something in his nature makes him hesitate. He pauses ... he closes his lips ... he steps back ... and then he slides down, and down, and down.'

72. I do believe that everyone growing up faces differential opportunities. With me, it was books and travel and some good teachers. With somebody else, it may be a boy scout master. With somebody else, it will be a clergyman. Somebody else, an uncle who was wiser than the father. I think young people ought to seek that differential experience that is going to knock them off dead center. I was a typical American school boy. I happened to get straight A's and be pretty good in sports. But I had no great vision of what I could be. And I never had any yearning. My job was to live through Friday afternoon, get through the week, and eat something. And then along came these differential experiences that you don't look for, that you don't plan for, but, boy, you better not miss them. The things that make you bigger than you are. The things that give you a vision. The things that give you a challenge.

73. 'Through one of those fantastical phone calls when your agent calls you and says 'Stephen Spielberg is on the phone, he wants to speak to you about his next film.' And once you've peeled yourself of the ceiling you go, *clears throat* Yeah, great.' - about how he got the role of Gigolo Joe

74. Clever boys. They'll do it, if we give them half a chance. They will do it

75. 'Though everyone says my son looks like me, I think he's an exact replica of Gauri. He took to me instantly, he even talks to me. I'll tell my son to grab all the opportunities he can, he shouldn't wait for them to come knocking. And when he grows up, I'll flirt with all his girlfriends. That's for sure.' - Shahrukh

76. When I Asked God for Favors He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

77. Every day, I'm standing outside trying to sing my way in:

78. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

79. Don't be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.

80. Gay Boy Scouts simply means the opening of the door of opportunity to gays in the Boy Scouts.

81. Bud, I'm giving you the the big shot here, because Hendrie blew it with all those phoney-baloney voices.

82. Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone here will ultimately be judged - will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.

83. On this generation of Americans falls the burden of proving to the world that we really mean it when we say all men are created free and are equal before the law. All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.

84. Our attitude toward immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as their talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.

85. I've been around quite a lot. For me, competing on Idol is just like another day at the office. But I'm not getting any younger and this is just an awesome opportunity.

86. In America any boy may become President, and I suppose it's just one of the risks he takes.

87. Fortune seized at the right moment gives victory.

88. Opportunity, n. A favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment.

89. Youth, n. The Period of Possibility, when Archimedes finds a fulcrum, Cassandra has a following and seven cities compete for the honor of endowing a living Homer.

90. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.

91. It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president... except me.

92. Everything comes if a man will only wait.

93. One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

94. We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.

95. I think the unique thing about music and graphic art is as oposed to, say, acting and directing, that if you are good you can always create a place for yourself. In acting, for instance, there's only a certain amount of good parts; you have to find the right vehicle. But if you're making good music, man, there's so much room. I think that any group that's really good can make it, anytime. That was my feeling behind the Mamas and Papas. When I heard us sing together the first time: we knew, we knew: this is it. This was when we first came to California, after we'd left the islands.

96. She then gave her a pair of slippers made of glass, the prettiest in the world.

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

98. Were all men equal to-night, some would get the start by rising an hour earlier to-morrow.

99. He that leaveth nothing to chance will do few things ill, but he will do very few things.

100. I guess it just proves that in America anyone can be president.