Unfortunate Circumstances Quotes

• There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under my jurisdiction. There are certain lottery tickets I can buy, thereby increasing my odds of finding contentment. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  Fall, Fate, Odds

  Elizabeth Gilbert (2009). “Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything”, p.186, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  Life, Attitude, Fall

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• Most of all, I can choose my thoughts.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  Choices, Eat Love Pray, Bali Eat Pray Love

  Elizabeth Gilbert (2010). “The Complete Elizabeth Gilbert: Eat, Pray, Love; Committed; The Last American Man; Stern Men & Pilgrims”, p.169, A&C Black

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• Despite Japan's desires and efforts, unfortunate differences in the ways that Japan, England, the United States, and China understood circumstances, together with misunderstandings of attitudes, made it impossible for the parties to agree.

  Hideki Tojo

  Attitude, Party, Japan

  "Hideki Tojo's Prison Diary". "The Journal of Historical Review", Vol. 12, No. 1, (pp. 31-85), www.ihr.org. 1992.

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• Through the harsh design of fate, Florida was dealt the unfortunate circumstances of bearing the brunt of not one but two hurricanes, and it appears more dark clouds are poised to visit the Sunshine State.

  Ginny Brown-Waite

  Fate, Dark, Sunshine

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• It is our custom to say that someone is 'lucky' or 'unlucky' if they meet with fortunate or unfortunate circumstances, respectively. It is, however, too simplistic to think in terms of random 'luck.' Even from a scientific point of view, this is not a sufficient explanation.

  Dalai Lama

  Thinking, Views, Luck

  The Dalai Lama (2001). “Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists”, p.108, Shambhala

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• Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.

  Bertrand Russell

  Exercise, Liberty, Principles

  Bertrand Russell (1960). “Sceptical Essays”

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• Ivy Hisselpenny was the unfortunate victim of circumstances that dictated she be only-just-pretty, only-just-wealthy, and possessed of a terrible propensity for wearing extremely silly hats.

  Gail Carriger

  Silly, Ivy, Hats

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• In life, when you are faced with an unfortunate circumstance, there’s no book, there’s no guide, there’s no right answer on how to get to the other side. You just sort of wake up one day and you have two paths in front of you, one where you go up and one where you can fall, and choosing the path to rise is most certainly not the easy path but it’s the brave one.

  Lea Michele

  Book, Fall, Two

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• I have an absolutely unshakable faith in kids, grounded in the fact that I worked for three years in one of the worst public schools in Baltimore, with kids most people would write off because of their backgrounds. But, when I set high expectations, at the end of the day, these kids went from scoring at the bottom on standardized tests, to scoring at the top, despite their unfortunate circumstances.

  Michelle Rhee

  Writing, School, Kids

  Source: aalbc.com

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• It seemed [there are] musical nodes on the planet where cultures meet and mix, sometimes as a result of unfortunate circumstances, like slavery or something else, in places like New Orleans and Havana and Brazil. And those are places where the European culture and indigenous culture and African culture all met and lived together, and some new kind of culture and especially music came out of that.

  David Byrne

  New Orleans, Musical, Together

  Interview with Chris Dahlen, pitchfork.com. July 17, 2006.

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• It is true to say that the first kill can influence the whole future career of a fighter pilot. Many to whom the first victory over the opponent has been long denied either by unfortunate circumstances or by bad luck can suffer from frustration or develop complexes they may never rid themselves of again.

  Adolf Galland

  Frustration, Careers, Long

  Adolf Galland (1954). “The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945”

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