quotations about opportunity
Opportunities? They are all around us.... There is power lying latent everywhere waiting for the observant eye to discover it.
ORISON SWETT MARDEN
Architects of Fate
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.
ERIC HOFFER
Between the Devil and the Dragon
To let slip a favorable opportunity is the greatest proof of imbecility.
PITTACUS
attributed, Day's Collacon
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Churchill By Himself
With each opportunity before me, God presented me with a choice. I could accept His offerings, His wisdom, His grace. Or I could choose to hold onto the pain, the anger and the resentment a little longer.
SHARON E. RAINEY
Making a Pearl from the Grit of Life
The golden opportunity
Is never offered twice; seize then the hour
When fortune smiles and duty points the way;
Nor shrink aside to 'scape the specter fear;
Nor pause, though pleasure beckon from her bower;
But bravely bear thee onward to the goal.
ANONYMOUS
I think everyone is an opportunist if they have an opportunity.
KATHARINE HEPBURN
Susan Crimp's Katharine Hepburn Once Said...
What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.
GEORGE ELIOT
Amos Barton
The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment, it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.
ORISON SWETT MARDEN
Getting On
Opportunity is a door leading up to another plane of life. But that door is not plainly marked like the exits at a theatre. "Enter here" is not written over the portal. Nevertheless it is fairly easy to find the door to any chosen place for all around all of us are plenty of opportunities. Look not afar for the opening. Look close at hand for it, whatever direction your ambition may take. Look intently, think long and deeply about your virtues and vices and circumstances. Perhaps in the very work which is in your hands is the knob which swings open the door of the opportunity for which you long. If you cannot find the opportunity then you are unworthy of the better place to which that opportunity would lead.
JAMES E. CLARK
"The Adjustment of Life", Business Philosopher, March 1909
The successful man is one who had the chance and took it.
ROGER BABSON
attributed, Distilled Wisdom
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"Morituri Salutamus"
I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon--if I can. I seek opportunity--not security.
DEAN ALFANGE
Reader's Digest, October 1952
The very lack of opportunity the group faces creates a self-defeating cycle and puts pressure on members to limit their aspirations.
ROSABETH MOSS KANTER
Men and Women of the Corporation
Opportunity is ever present though constantly passing. Opportunity is a procession of opportunities. The doubtful man bewails the opportunity just gone, and which he has lost, but the time spent in bewailing his loss and blaming somebody, prevents him from seeing the opportunity then present, but again not seen until it too has just gone.
H. W. PERCIVAL
The Word, July, 1908
To attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities.
GEORGE S. GLASON
The Richest Man in Babylon
[Learn] to slow down and perceive the mysterious events and opportunities that happen in life. We call them coincidences, but if we look closely we see they are meaningful. They bring us just the right information at just the right time to extend our careers, relationships, and growth. These events feel destined in some way, as though the world is set up to help us make a better life, work through our problems, and reach our dreams -- if we just pay attention.
JAMES REDFIELD
interview, Lotus Guide, June 6, 2012
Opportunity is to take advantage of times and seasons; the mill cannot grind with the water that is lost.
A. RITCHIE
attributed, Day's Collacon
The dynamic power of a resolute soul is but little affected by outward circumstance. I have no patience with the whining complaint that success in life is dependent upon opportunity, and that opportunity is largely a matter of chance. For the aggressive man opportunity is never wanting. Let him make the most of opportunity and opportunity will make the most of him.
JAMES M. BECK
commencement address at University of Pennsylvania, June 12, 1901
It is sad, indeed, to see how man wastes his opportunities. How many could be made happy, with the blessings which are recklessly wasted or thrown away.
JOHN LUBBOCK
attributed, Character and Conduct: A Book of Helpful Thoughts by Great Writers of Past and Present Ages