Luck

Many years ago, the Founder of our University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, said, “I’m a great believer in luck. I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.” He suggests that our efforts can at least tilt the odds, away from bad luck and toward good. Many readers are living proof of our efforts (and good results) at tilting the odds: we wear seat belts, avoid smoking, eat right, follow doctor’s orders, and so on. I agree with Jefferson that we can tilt some odds in some gambles. But as Lincoln might have said, it is not possible to tilt all the odds all the time.

Source: http://darden.edu/html/DeansBlog.aspx