"The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck"
About this Quote
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
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
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.











