Odds Quotes - Page 15

• Probability is not a mere computation of odds on the dice or more complicated variants; it is the acceptance of the lack of certainty in our knowledge and the development of methods for dealing with our ignorance.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Ignorance, Acceptance, Development

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.1421, Random House

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• Wrong. Enemies don't fight with such determined passion. That kind of focus is reserved for friends at odds with one another." pg 69 Tomas to Vlad

  Heather Brewer

  Passion, Fighting, Focus

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• Growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.

  Jim Butcher

  Hurt, Growing Up, Moving

  Jim Butcher (2008). “White Night: A Novel of the Dresden Files”, p.248, Penguin

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• What is literature, and why do I try to write about it? I don’t know. Likewise, I don’t know why I go on living, most of the time. But this not knowing is precisely what I want to preserve. As readers, the closest way we can engage with a literary work is to protect its indeterminacy; to return ourselves and it to a place that precludes complete recognition. Really, when I’m reading, all I want is to stand amazed in front of an unknown object at odds with the world.

  M. John Harrison

  Reading, Writing, Knowing

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• It gives me some kind of chance to survive the night." "How are those better odds? If you come back with me, you're guaranteed to survive the night." "No," Reacher said. "If I come back with you, I'm guaranteed to die of shame.

  Lee Child

  Night, Giving, Chance

  Lee Child (2015). “The Essential Jack Reacher, Volume 2, 6-Book Bundle: 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, A Wanted Man, Never Go Back, Personal”, p.1363, Delacorte Press

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• For a dying man it is not a difficult decision [to agree to become the world's first heart transplant] ... because he knows he is at the end. If a lion chases you to the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, you will leap into the water convinced you have a chance to swim to the other side. But you would not accept such odds if there were no lion.

  Christiaan Barnard

  Heart, Men, Rivers

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• The trick at every turn was to endure the test of living for as long as possible. The odds of survival were punishingly slim, for the world was naught by a school of calamity and an endless burning furnace of tribulation. But those who survived the world shaped it--even as the world, simultaneously, shaped them.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  School, Long, Survival

  Elizabeth Gilbert (2013). “The Signature of All Things”, p.443, A&C Black

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• What were the odds that she'd turn away at the same instant the ball came flying her way? And that she'd be holding a soda in a crowd at a volleyball game she didn't even want to watch, in a place she didn't want to be? In a million years, the same thing should probably never happen again. With odds like that, she should have bought a lottery ticket.

  Nicholas Sparks

  Volleyball, Should Have, Years

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• People with anxiety disorders such as OCD know that nothing can be more paralyzing than having too many options. Go to a store to buy a sweater, find four that you like and the odds are pretty good you'll stare and stare... and buy nothing at all.

  Jeffrey Kluger

  Anxiety Disorder, Sweaters, People

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• Let us keep before us the fact that, almost without exception, every race or nation that has ever got upon its feet has done so through struggle and trial and persecution; and that out of this very resistance to wrong, out of the struggle against odds, they have gained strength, self-confidence, and experience which they could not have gained in any other way.

  Booker T. Washington

  Struggle, Self Confidence, Race

  Booker T. Washington, Louis R. Harlan (1977). “The Booker T. Washington Papers: 1903-4”, p.188, University of Illinois Press

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• Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Peace, Justice, Done

  Mahatma Gandhi (1958). “Collected Works”

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• Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.

  Charles Lindbergh

  Inspirational, Success, Uplifting

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• We need to get to kids who have no idea what we do. We need to open the doors wide and let them in. There are many undiscovered voices out there - voices that, against all odds, can rise up and enrich this culture and perhaps change the very nature of the marketplace for the better.

  Dan Wieden

  Business, Kids, Doors

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• The odds are definitely better on getting the right job than getting a good partner for life. Someone who will grow with you. Someone to develop memories with. Someone who was there in the beginning. Someone who will be there at the end.

  Mika Brzezinski

  Jobs, Memories, Ends

  "Don’t Forget To Have Kids" by Mika Brzezinski, www.huffingtonpost.com. March 18, 2010.

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• The odds of me coming into the rocket business, not knowing anything about rockets, not having ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in my favor.

  Elon Musk

  Mean, Knowing, Insane

  "U.S., China, Russia, Elon Musk: Entrepreneur's "insane" vision becomes reality". "60 Minutes" with Scott Pelley, www.cbsnews.com. May 22, 2012.

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• A horrible script 99 percent of the time means a horrible movie. But if you start with a good script, odds are you're going to have a good movie.

  Ricky Schroder

  Mean, Good Movie, Scripts

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• Most start-up companies fail and it is smart public policy to help entrepreneurs increase their odds of succeeding. But, the biggest loss to our economy is not all the start-ups that didn't make it: It's the ones that might have been created but weren't.

  Eric Ries

  Smart, Loss, Entrepreneur

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• Sometimes, a flame can be utterly extinguished. Sometimes, a flame can shrink and waver, but sometimes a flame refuses to go out. It flares up from the faintest ember to illuminate the darkness, to burn in spite of overwhelming odds.

  Karen Hesse

  Hard Times, Illumination, Flare Up

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• The bottom line: if you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family's positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come.

  Bruce Feiler

  Generations, Stories, Lines

  "Telling Our Stories" by Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 1, 2013.

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• Other pirates leaped over the railing. One, two... seven... thirteen. A baker’s dozen. Wait, fifteen. Eighteen... Twenty-one. The odds weren’t in our favor. “Maybe they just came over to borrow a cup of sugar,” I said. Andrea barked a short laugh. Curran put his hand on my shoulder. “That’s a lot of sugar. Must be a big cake.

  Ilona Andrews

  Two, Hands, Cake

  Ilona Andrews (2013). “Magic Rises: A Kate Daniels Novel”, p.48, Penguin

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• New Yorkers love the bigness -- the skyscrapers, the freedom, the lights. But they also love it when they can carve out some smallness for themselves. When the guy at the corner store knows which newspaper you want. When the barista has your order ready before you open your mouth. When you start to recognize the people in your orbit, and you know that, say, if you're waiting for the subway at eight fifteen on the dot, odds are the redhead with the red umbrella is going to be there too.

  David Levithan

  Order, Eight, Light

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• Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt faced adversities that, in their times, seemed impregnable. Great presidents overcome great odds.

  Ron Fournier

  Adversity, President, Overcoming

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• Sooner or later, we will face a catastrophic threat from space. Of all the possible threats, only a gigantic asteroid hit can destroy the entire planet. If we prepare now, we better our odds of survival. The dinosaurs never knew what hit them.

  Michio Kaku

  Space, Survival, Faces

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• I grew up poor in India, and there were days when we struggled to find food and other basic necessities. Our mother worked odds and ends jobs to keep the family together and educate us.

  Naveen Jain

  Mother, Jobs, Together

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• Courage is willingness to take the risk once you know the odds. Optimistic overconfidence means you are taking the risk because you don't know the odds. It's a big difference.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Optimistic, Mean, Differences

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