Thomas Pynchon on luck

A screaming comes across the sky.

All investigations of Time, however sophisticated or abstract, have at their true base the human fear of mortality.

History, the proverb says, is made at night. The European civil servant normally sleeps at night. What waits in his IN basket to confront him at nine in the morning is history.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur1822–1895

I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

I think luck is the sense to recognize an opportunity and the ability to take advantage of it… The man who can smile at his breaks and grab his chances gets on.

Samuel Goldwyn1882–1974