Time & Perspective Quote by Doug Larson

Opportunity, in Doug Larson's hands, isn't a hero with a brass knocker. It's a petty thief with soft shoes. That swap is the whole joke and the whole warning: we like our success stories to arrive with fanfare because it flatters the ego and simplifies the narrative. A knock implies you were invited to be ready, that you missed your shot only because you ignored an obvious signal. Larson's version is harsher and more accurate. Opportunity doesn't announce itself; it blends into the background noise of ordinary days and then slips out when you hesitate.

The line works because it weaponizes domestic imagery. "Knocks" belongs to folklore and motivational posters. "Sneaks up" and "quietly steals away" belong to crime. In a single sentence, Larson turns self-help certainty into paranoid realism. The subtext is a rebuke to procrastination, but also to the cultural lie that big breaks are always legible in the moment. Most turning points look like minor inconveniences, awkward introductions, underpaid gigs, or ideas you almost don't pitch because they feel half-formed.

As a cartoonist, Larson trades in compressed insight: a twist that lands fast and leaves a bruise. The intent isn't to romanticize hustle; it's to puncture complacency. If opportunity behaves like a thief, the moral isn't "wait by the door". It's "pay attention to the room". The comedy softens the sting, but the cynicism stays: you won't get a second announcement, and your future won't always be polite enough to introduce itself.