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Daily Inspiration Quote by B. C. Forbes

"The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck"

About this Quote

Hustle culture loves to dress itself up as destiny, and Forbes cuts straight through the costume. “Too busy to bother about luck” isn’t folksy optimism; it’s a pointed rebuke to the comfortable alibi of chance. Luck, in this formulation, is what you talk about when you’re stalled: the story you tell yourself to explain why someone else surged ahead. By making “intent” the engine, Forbes shifts the focus from outcomes (which are messy and often unfair) to posture: a cultivated habit of attention, readiness, and follow-through.

The line works because it’s quietly aggressive. It doesn’t deny that luck exists; it demotes it. The real target is the spectator mindset, the person who narrates life from the sidelines, tallying breaks and blaming weather. Forbes implies that opportunity is less a lightning strike than a moving train: if you’re scanning the platform, planning your jump, and sprinting when it arrives, you don’t have time for metaphysical debates about who deserves a ticket.

Context matters. Forbes built an empire chronicling business strivers in an era obsessed with self-making, when industrial capitalism promised mobility while often delivering volatility. The quote reads like editorial fuel for that audience: a morale-building maxim that flatters agency. Still, its subtext is more editorial than inspirational: stop romanticizing randomness, start operationalizing your ambition. Luck becomes background noise when your calendar is full.

Quote Details

TopicMotivational
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Forbes, B. C. (n.d.). The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-man-who-is-intent-on-making-the-most-of-his-34480/

Chicago Style
Forbes, B. C. "The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-man-who-is-intent-on-making-the-most-of-his-34480/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-man-who-is-intent-on-making-the-most-of-his-34480/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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B. C. Forbes (May 14, 1880 - May 6, 1954) was a Journalist from Scotland.

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