Quotes About Odds

At some stage, of course, you're going to discover that good does not always triumph and that evil can very easily win the battle; I hope, though, that when that truth dawns you will be old enough and strong enough to make the deliberate effort not to believe it. Because only if we pretend that it is not true can we steel ourselves to fight against it—like those young men in the Spitfires who did not stop to consider the impossible, daunting odds and went up nonetheless.

Then said the brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate, "To every man upon this earth, Death cometh soon or late. And how can a man die better Than facing fearful odds. For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods.

All I know is that everything around us is astonishing. Impossible. We live in a universe so finely tuned for complex chemistry and life that the odds against it are greater than those of winning a thousand lotteries in a row. In a universe filled with exquisite microorganisms, voracious black holes, and trillions of stars, each of which can fit a million or more Earths inside. How can we possibly think that any view of God or creation can capture more than the tiniest hint of this reality?

I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.

Statistical high Vegas odds probability is that nothing of any significance will ever happen to you in your entire boring life.

the more they evolved from monsters into angsty, sexy superheroes, the more the odds of a human being surviving an encounter with an angry vampire shrank to nothing.

concentrate on Stalin's development of the country and its victory, against all odds, in World War II.

An accurate picture of the odds is important when you're choosing a path. But once you've already made your choice, then you should switch into irrational optimism for the execution phase.

Understand why casinos and racetracks stay in business - the gambler always loses over the long term.

She asked me if the schoolteacher and the horsemaster were still at odds, and by this I discerned that Burrich and Galen's challenge at the Witness Stones had become something of a local legend already. I assured her that peace had been restored. We spent

These were tears of admiration for the strong women so determined to have their family against all odds. And tears of pity for herself, for the trepidation she felt in place of desire and for the pale, wan sentiment that she let pass for love.

You need to be uncomfortable and apprehensive: True strategy is about placing bets and making hard choices. The objective is not to eliminate risk but to increase the odds of success.

Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero.

Success requires a persistent misreading of the odds.

When we got Tesla going at the very beginning, if you asked me what I thought the odds of success were, I would have said less than 50%. I would have said that failure is the most likely outcome.

I think all of us certainly believed the statistics which said that probably 88% chance of mission success and maybe 96% chance of survival. And we were willing to take those odds.

A lot of people, even my parents, thought, "Art school, I don't know. We'll support you but the success rate for artists is really slim."

I put the odds on a psychic deathmatch between Attila the Hun and Virginia Woolf at fifty-fifty.

Paul had already resolved to account for Henry's absence by overdubbing the lead guitar lines himself; Seiwell's leaving complicated that plan only slightly, since Paul was also an able drummer. Mostly, though, the defections activated one of Paul's strongest internal motivators—prevailing against the odds and the I told you so's

He who ignores the law of probabilities challenges an adversary that is seldom beaten.

There was the very slightest pause. Probably no more than a breath, for all it felt far longer. While everyone assessed the odds and the outcomes. While everyone judged just where the shifting power sat. While everything dropped into place in Dimbik's mind and, no doubt, the minds of every other person present. Just a breath, and everything was rearranged.

When you're down to small stakes, you have to play long odds.

Pujols was a 13th-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1999 draft. Thirteenth-round draft picks rarely make it—I do not say this lightly. Since the first year of the draft, only 13 percent of all 13th-round picks have made it to the big leagues at all, and less than 8 percent have posted even one win above replacement.

Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem when all the odds were against him. Determination and persistence pulsate through your bloodline.