"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." A speaker at my niece's commencement (graduation) ceremony last week quoted Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president), urging the graduates to work hard as they commence their working life.
I find the Thomas Jefferson quote somewhat tricky. On first hearing, he seemed to be talking about luck. I have to think hard before I conclude that hard work is advocated and not so much luck. First, you have to work hard; then, you may have the so-called "luck".
What's the context of Thomas Jefferson's quote, I wonder? I tried in vain to find from the web to have better understanding. Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson) alleges that the quote "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." is misattributed to Jefferson. So maybe Jefferson did not say this after all.
Anyhow, I found more quotes about luck on the web (http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/topics/luck_quotes.html). Some quotes (eg by Alfred Hitchcock, Donald Trump) stake everything on luck. Others (eg by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Voltaire) allude to the senselessness of luck, maintaining that nothing can exist without a cause. I like the quote attributed to Homer: " 'Tis man's to fight, but Heaven's to give success."
I'm a great believer in Heaven, in the guiding of God's invisible Hands. Sometimes, when Christian friends share with me about fortuitious happenings in their lives, I would respond that these are the blessings of God who, in His goodness and mercy, watches over us and brings us through the ups and downs of life.
The words of the Apostle Paul, in his address to an assembly of philosophers at Athens, have left a great impression on my mind:
"24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17: 24-27)
With God determining the course of our lives, nothing happens by chance or accident, contrary to the belief in luck. But what about bad things that happen? Does God determine the bad things that happen to us?
The author Paul Little, in his book "Know Why We Believe", provides a Christian response on the age-old question "Why Does God Allow Suffering and Evil?" When my cell group discussed this difficult topic, we were comforted that even when bad things happen, God would somehow bring about good from the bad that He has allowed to happened.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. " (Romans 8:28)
Whether good or bad, we can trust in our Lord God. Whether good luck or bad luck, it's irrelevant.
I find the Thomas Jefferson quote somewhat tricky. On first hearing, he seemed to be talking about luck. I have to think hard before I conclude that hard work is advocated and not so much luck. First, you have to work hard; then, you may have the so-called "luck".
What's the context of Thomas Jefferson's quote, I wonder? I tried in vain to find from the web to have better understanding. Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson) alleges that the quote "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." is misattributed to Jefferson. So maybe Jefferson did not say this after all.
Anyhow, I found more quotes about luck on the web (http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/topics/luck_quotes.html). Some quotes (eg by Alfred Hitchcock, Donald Trump) stake everything on luck. Others (eg by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Voltaire) allude to the senselessness of luck, maintaining that nothing can exist without a cause. I like the quote attributed to Homer: " 'Tis man's to fight, but Heaven's to give success."
I'm a great believer in Heaven, in the guiding of God's invisible Hands. Sometimes, when Christian friends share with me about fortuitious happenings in their lives, I would respond that these are the blessings of God who, in His goodness and mercy, watches over us and brings us through the ups and downs of life.
The words of the Apostle Paul, in his address to an assembly of philosophers at Athens, have left a great impression on my mind:
"24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17: 24-27)
With God determining the course of our lives, nothing happens by chance or accident, contrary to the belief in luck. But what about bad things that happen? Does God determine the bad things that happen to us?
The author Paul Little, in his book "Know Why We Believe", provides a Christian response on the age-old question "Why Does God Allow Suffering and Evil?" When my cell group discussed this difficult topic, we were comforted that even when bad things happen, God would somehow bring about good from the bad that He has allowed to happened.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. " (Romans 8:28)
Whether good or bad, we can trust in our Lord God. Whether good luck or bad luck, it's irrelevant.
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