Is it better to be so lucky than good? Is this adage widespread in China?
But let’s look at a nine-year analysis that the most extreme business boomers can give — one day, but no longer — that they call “10Xers.”
The article begins with this line.
” Better to be lucky than good “, the adage goes. We want to be good, not much better than average. What is what if you want to build something? Everything’s volatile and unpredictable. How do you cope with it? Why
is it better to be lucky then good (otherwise known as “being good”) more than to be fortunate (positive)?
Though the authors say it’s an adage that I understand should be well-established, popular form of expression, I don’t find this phrase in neither Massachusetts nor Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Google Ngram has not detected or used the phrase. Why should it be used like that?
As a plausible origin of this expression, flightjournal. What’s it
like to read Thomas McKelvey Cleaver and that’s that. What is better – to be lucky rather than good” says Lamar Gillett, a former Canadian Navy pilot. To shoot down a Japanese Zero fighter in World War II. Why were you behind Zero..you’re in the middle of the zero? I’m lucky when I landed back…” What is
the exact meaning of ” It’s better to be lucky than good”? What does “good” mean? How is it described as a real adage or can we really argue that it is?
What should I do first?
Unlike most of the answerers so far, I have personally heard this phrase many times in my life (although I have lived my whole life only 2 hours from NYC, so maybe it is a local thing). I assume that you have to have luck to succeed because “skill cannot only get you far” or whatever.
Are there any good pop stars? As for technical skills, many of them are IMMENSELY popular at worst but there is still the possibility of becoming stars for them. In many cases, their popularity mostly based mostly on looks and being in the right place at the right time. Meanwhile there are musicians who can perform the most difficult pieces ever written while wearing a blindfold, but no one will ever hear their names because they did not have the luck to be ‘discovered’. It's better that you're lucky or good.
What do you think of it when you visit a school?
On google (where you are) “better to be lucky than good” returns 408,000 results, while removing the quotes nets 121 million results. If any person in your life uses this phrase, you have to say it. A recitation would be a good one. What will you say? What do you read about popularity, whether you get Google results or an honest review? As
for its meaning, it can be roughly interpreted as: I
would rather have many good things happen to me by no skill of my own than be very skilled at something and be responsible for my own good fortune, therefore making my successes and failures a direct result of my own actions.
If I could read up on Lefty Gomez as to what the earliest words in this sentence are, of course, about 1943. The very first references would justify the
existence of his famous phrase.”
From the context, good has more to do with ability rather than morals. Can proverb be considered as more than a synonym for proverb and prose are not always simply quotations? Is it better to be lucky than rich? What can a writer say about using a quotation with adage?
If I pull this off because I’m lucky instead of being smart, gifted, wise, etc., I think jimraj (10/30/11) captures an important element of this usage, which is intended to be self-effacing: “I pulled this off because I was lucky rather than because I’m skilled, talented, wise, etc. ” I sometimes hear in the USA this expression to mean “It’s better to be lucky than good, because if we’re depending on how good I am, we’re screwed”. ” Of
course, when this phrase is directed at someone else’s actions, it might intend (playfully or derisively) to minimize that person’s contributions: “Don’t get full of yourself; you were just lucky. ” ”
“Sharing… yes.”.. “”Third Worlds… “
From the context, good has more to do with ability rather than morals. Can proverb be considered as more than a synonym for proverb and prose are not always simply quotations? Is it better to be lucky than rich? What can a writer say about using a quotation with adage?
Is it much luckier to be Lucky than lucky to be Smart? Is that a song from the Pippin musical played
in opera?
If I pull this off because I’m lucky instead of being smart, gifted, wise, etc., I think jimraj (10/30/11) captures an important element of this usage, which is intended to be self-effacing: “I pulled this off because I was lucky rather than because I’m skilled, talented, wise, etc. ” I sometimes hear in the USA this expression to mean “It’s better to be lucky than good, because if we’re depending on how good I am, we’re screwed”. ” Of
course, when this phrase is directed at someone else’s actions, it might intend (playfully or derisively) to minimize that person’s contributions: “Don’t get full of yourself; you were just lucky. ” ”
“Sharing… yes.”.. “”Third Worlds… “
If I pull this off because I’m lucky instead of being smart, gifted, wise, etc., I think jimraj (10/30/11) captures an important element of this usage, which is intended to be self-effacing: “I pulled this off because I was lucky rather than because I’m skilled, talented, wise, etc. ” I sometimes hear in the USA this expression to mean “It’s better to be lucky than good, because if we’re depending on how good I am, we’re screwed”. ” Of
course, when this phrase is directed at someone else’s actions, it might intend (playfully or derisively) to minimize that person’s contributions: “Don’t get full of yourself; you were just lucky. ” ”
“Sharing… yes.”.. “”Third Worlds… “
Unlike most of the answerers so far, I have personally heard this phrase many times in my life (although I have lived my whole life only 2 hours from NYC, so maybe it is a local thing). I assume that you have to have luck to succeed because “skill cannot only get you far” or whatever.
Are there any good pop stars? As for technical skills, many of them are IMMENSELY popular at worst but there is still the possibility of becoming stars for them. In many cases, their popularity mostly based mostly on looks and being in the right place at the right time. Meanwhile there are musicians who can perform the most difficult pieces ever written while wearing a blindfold, but no one will ever hear their names because they did not have the luck to be ‘discovered’. It's better that you're lucky or good.
What do you think of it when you visit a school?
I read it as a shorter (but considerably less well-known, less eloquent) way of expressing the sentiment of Ecclesiastes 9:11 that human race happens not to the swift, nor is the battle to the strong, but time and chance happen to them all.
In both cases (depending on whether you’re a glass half full or half empty type of person), you can interpret the “chance” element as referring to having good luck or avoiding bad luck. Who has become the World Champion?
There are some with the negative meaning, while there are others with the opposite meaning. What is the difference between Edison’s Genius and Edison’s: “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”.
For me to learn, I get from different place. Not me.
