David Lindsay-Abaire Quotes

Don't get me wrong: I think that everyone should put forth an effort to do better, but let's face it, some of us are just plain luckier than others.

I'm not saying I'm something special. I might play a little better tennis than other people, but it is because I was given the chance, and not many people are.

I try to live every day and realize that there are so many folks working hard to try to get to where I am and how fortunate that I am.

I'm not saying people shouldn't apply themselves and work hard. You do have to try to make your own luck. But I know people firsthand who worked incredibly hard, who were really smart, who never got into trouble, and still didn't get a break.

We have this myth that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. It's not a very American thing to say, but I don't think that's true. It's true for a lot of people, but you need other things to succeed. You need luck, you need opportunity, and you need the life skills to recognize what an opportunity is.

Success comes to you with luck and a lot of hard work, but it doesn't give you the right to be any better than anybody else.

I felt like there were so many talented people who should be getting what I have.

I've worked hard, but I've been lucky too.

I don't think the world works on merit.

I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have worked hard along the way and I have been blessed too. I have had a great life.

I feel like it has gone very fast for me, but I feel like it wasn't instantaneous, at all. I was getting a lot of rejections. I just got very lucky and it happened quickly for me. I don't feel like I'm a prodigy or something.

There are a lot better musicians than me out there that just haven't had the luck to fall into everything like I have.

A lot of my life happened in great, wonderful bursts of good fortune, and then I would race to be worthy of it.

It is impossible to count the blessings I have received over my years at Microsoft. I am humbled by the professionalism and generosity of everyone I have had the good fortune to work with at this awesome company.

America thinks of itself as a meritocracy, so people have more respect for success and more contempt for failure.

I want to prove that you don't have to come from Oxford University or Rada - and you don't have to have parents that support you - to succeed.

Everything has been such a whirlwind ever since I stepped foot in the league and everything has been like a dream, so I'm just blessed to be in this position.

I am a young, white, educated male. I got really, really lucky. And life isn't fair.

Life is unfair. I got nothing but the best.

A slave has but one master. An ambition man, has as many as there are people who helped him get his fortune.

When you have to do all the more crappy jobs before, you appreciate all the good work that comes out of that. There are many girls who immediately have a top model career, and there are lots of models who are doing things that aren't as exciting as doing big campaigns and beautiful magazines.

We need to be united, and we all need to understand that we're all capable of achieving the American dream. And, but that has to be something that is self-realized. And also, to demonize someone for achieving the American dream is unfair.

A big part of who I am is just the way I was raised. Nobody is better than anyone else, and if you really work hard, you might get lucky and get what you want.

I won't say, 'I have two degrees; I shouldn't be getting your latte.' Because I paid my dues when I got to the table, I actually had something to say.

It is easy when you are successful to think that you did it all by yourself and to forget that you didn't. You got here because a lot of things broke your way. You were lucky enough to be born into a family that could afford to take care of you well.