What is opportunity, and when does it knock? It never knocks. You can wait a whole lifetime, listening, hoping, and you will hear no knocking. None at all. You are opportunity, and you must knock on the door leading to your destiny. You prepare yourself to recognize opportunity, to pursue and seize opportunity as you develop the strength of your personality, and build a self-image with which you are able to live — with your self-respect alive and growing.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute.
—C. William Pollard (b.1938) American Businessman
Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The Three Rules of Work: 1. Out of clutter, find simplicity. 2. From discord, find harmony. 3. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Don’t ever slam a door, you might want to go back.
—Don Herold (1889–1966) American Humorist, Writer, Illustrator, Cartoonist
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.
—John Wayne (1907–79) American Actor, Director, Producer
There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.
—Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967) American Industrialist
The riches of life, the love and joy and exhilaration of life can be found only with an upward look. This is an exciting world. It’s cram-packed with opportunity. Great moments wait around every corner.
—Richard DeVos (1926–2018) American Businessman, Philanthropist
The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
—Unknown
Always have your hook baited, in the pool you least think, there will be a fish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
One cannot expect to coast along and rise automatically to the top, no matter what friends you may have in the company. There may have been a time when, in large corporations, a person could rise simply because he had a stock interest or because he had friends in top management. That’s not true today. Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.
—David Rockefeller (1915–2017) American Businessman, Philanthropist
I believe that you tend to create your own blessings. You have to prepare yourself so that when opportunity comes, you’re ready.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
—Victor Kiam (1926–2001) American Entrepreneur
And what if I did run my ship aground; oh, still it was splendid to sail it.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
There’s no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
—Wayne Dyer (b.1940) American Motivational Writer, Author, Motivational Speaker
If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Success doesn’t come to you — you go to it.
—Marva Collins (b.1936) American Educator
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Where legitimate opportunities are closed, illegitimate opportunities are seized. Whatever opens opportunity and hope will help to prevent crime and foster responsibility.
—Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) American Head of State, Political leader
A wise man will make more opportunities, than he finds.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd.
—Edward de Bono (b.1933) Maltese-British Psychologist, Writer
Make the iron hot by striking it.
—Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) British Head of State, Military Leader
When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited.
—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–86) Indian Hindu Philosopher
Intentions often melt in the face of unexpected opportunity.
—Shirley Temple (1928–2014) American Actress, Diplomat
If the thief has no opportunity, he thinks himself honorable.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
—Unknown
Opportunities are seldom labeled.
—John Augustus Shedd (1858–1931) American Author
The man who works need never be a problem to anyone. Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities. Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making money. Production, not destruction, leads to success.
—John Wicker
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
—Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Good luck waits to come to that man who accepts opportunity.
—George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) American Businessperson, Author
Opportunity rarely knocks on your door. Knock rather on opportunity’s door if you ardently wish to enter.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Opportunity is often difficult to recognize; we usually expect it to beckon us with beepers and billboards.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
Opportunity is rare, and a wise man will never let it go by him.
—Bayard Taylor (1825–78) American Poet, Literary Critic, Translator, Translator
The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
To avoid an occasion for our virtues is a worse degree of failure than to push forward pluckily and make a fall.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
For truth and duty it is ever the fitting time; who waits until circumstances completely favor his undertaking, will never accomplish anything.
—Martin Luther (1483–1546) German Protestant Theologian
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
—Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967) American Industrialist
Opportunity is lost by deliberation.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Don’t wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations.
—Charles F. Richter (1900–85) American Physicist, Geologist
He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
We trained hard-but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.
—Petronius Roman Courtier, Novelist
A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.
—Anonymous
We see the brightness of a new page where everything yet can happen.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
There is no future in any job. The future lies in the man who holds the job.
—George W. Crane (1901–95) American Psychologist, Physician
Listen to the mustn’ts, child.
Listen to the don’ts.
Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves,
then listen close to me…
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.
—Shel Silverstein (1930–99) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Short story Author, Playwright, Author, Songwriter
I think luck is the sense to recognize an opportunity and the ability to take advantage of it. Everyone has bad breaks, but everyone also has opportunities. The man who can smile at his breaks and grab his chances gets on.
—Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) Polish-born American Film Producer, Businessperson
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
—Richard Branson (b.1950) British Entrepreneur
My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Mediocre men wait for opportunity to come to them. Strong, able, alert men go after opportunity.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Subtract from the great man all that he owes to opportunity, all that he owes to chance, and all that he has gained by the wisdom of his friends and the folly of his enemies, and the giant will often be seen to be a pigmy.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Opportunity knocks but once.
—Common Proverb
There are always opportunities through which businessmen can profit handsomely if they will only recognize and seize them.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
Opportunity can benefit no man who has not fitted himself to seize it and use it. Opportunity woos the worthy, shuns the unworthy. Prepare yourself to grasp opportunity and opportunity is likely to come your way. It is not so fickle, capricious and unreasoning as some complain.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
There’s no security on this earth, only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
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 (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
The greatest secret of success in life is for a person to be ready when their opportunity comes.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Opportunity makes a thief.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they’re gone.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
The winds of grace are blowing all the time. You have only to raise your sail.
—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–86) Indian Hindu Philosopher
There is an hour in each man’s life appointed to make his happiness, if then he seize it.
—Francis Beaumont (1584–1616) English Dramatist
In a free world, if it is to remain free, we must maintain, with our lives if need be, but surely by our lives, the opportunity for a man to learn anything.
—J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–67) American Nuclear Physicist
Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them. Every one must be challenged. A day, dawns, quite like other days; in it a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us. The face every opportunity of life thoughtfully and ask its meaning bravely and earnestly, is the only way to meet the supreme opportunities when they come, whether open-faced or disguised.
—Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858–1901) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Writer
Right now a moment is fleeting by! Capture its reality in paint! To do that we must put all else out of our minds. We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate. Give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time.
—Paul Cezanne (1839–1906) French Painter
Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman—all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up!
—Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu Mystic
If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.
—Tom Peters (b.1942) American Management Consultant, Author, Public Speaker
An optimist sees and opportunity in every calamity. A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
—Unknown
Miss not the occasion; by the fore lock take that subtle power, the never-halting time.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Opportunity knocks at the strangest times. It’s not the time that matters, but how you answer the door.
—Unknown
Many of us spend our lives searching for success when it is usually so close that we can reach out and touch it.
—Russell Conwell (1843–1925) American Baptist Minister, Orator, Philanthropist, Lawyer, Academic
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
—Unknown
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Many do with opportunities as children do at the seashore; they fill their little hands with sand, and then let the grains fall through, one by one, till all are gone.
—Thomas Jones
There is no security in life, only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
—Demosthenes (384–322 BCE) Greek Statesman, Orator
Ability is of little account without opportunity.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) French Monarch
Opportunities are often things you haven’t noticed the first time around.
—Catherine Deneuve (b.1943) French Actor, Activist
To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher
Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Vigilance in watching opportunity; tact and daring in seizing upon opportunity; force and persistence in crowding opportunity to its utmost of possible achievement — these are the martial virtues which must command success.
—Austin Phelps (1820–90) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Educator, Theologian
One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer