70 Top-Notch Quotes about Opportunity

"He who refuses to embrace an unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed."

William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a medical doctor. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism.


"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises."

Demosthenes (384–322 BC) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens.


"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes."

Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding.


"Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.


"An opportunity shouldn't be missed, for it won't come back again."

Sima Qian (ca. 145 or 135 BC–86 BC) also called Ssu-ma Ch'ien , was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography because of his highly praised work.


"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."

Wayne Douglas Gretzky (born January 26, 1961) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. Nicknamed "The Great One," Gretzky is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL, and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself.


"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."

Laozi also Lao Tse, Lao Tu, Lao-Tzu, Lao-Tsu, Laotze, Lao Zi, Laocius, and other variations (-) was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, and is a central figure in Taoism (also spelled "Daoism").


"Things turn out the best for the people who make the best way things turn out."

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War (WWII). He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served as prime minister twice (1940-1945 and 1951-1955). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature.


"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."

Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount Saint Alban (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist and author. He famously died of pneumonia contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat.