"The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. “Many great men” smuggles in a cultural myth - we crave clean origin stories, the kind where success arrives like a plot twist. Pollock insists greatness is less twist than grind: you don’t evade bad luck, you metabolize it. “Born with the ability and determination” nods to the uncomfortable mix we’d rather not admit: talent and willpower are partly inheritances. The quote celebrates grit, but it also suggests an inequity - some people are “lucky” to be born with the psychological hardware to endure what would crush others.
As an actor and popular figure, Pollock is also speaking from inside an industry built on rejection, randomness, and gatekeepers. In show business, “bad luck” is often just the default setting. The subtext reads like advice to the ambitious: stop waiting for a break; treat adversity as the audition. The line works because it offers comfort without sentimentality, turning luck from a cosmic mood into a personal discipline.
Quote Details
| Topic | Overcoming Obstacles |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Pollock, Channing. (2026, January 17). The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-only-good-luck-many-great-men-ever-had-was-39818/
Chicago Style
Pollock, Channing. "The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-only-good-luck-many-great-men-ever-had-was-39818/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-only-good-luck-many-great-men-ever-had-was-39818/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.










