Luck
Essay # 1
We commonly speak of good luck and bad luck, and talk of people being lucky or unlucky, and of things happening by pure chance. Yet science tells us there is no such thing as chance or luck. According to the law of cause and effect, every happening has a cause. Not a leaf falls, not a wind blows, not a flower opens, without a reason. But we still use the word chance to describe happenings, the reason of which we do not know. When such apparently causeless happenings are favourable to us, we say they are lucky; when unfavourable, we call them unlucky. “Luck is simply untraced, and so far untraceable, law.”
All purely gambling games are games of chance. They are not decided by skill or forethought, but simply by the happening of something we cannot control, like the fall of a coin or the turning up of a certain card. No doubt there is a reason why, when we spin a coin, it is sometimes “heads” and sometimes “tails”. But, if we are playing fairly, we cannot discover the reason, and so we cannot control the coin. So we say that it’s turning up heads or tails is simply a matter of luck or chance.
Now ignorance is the mother of superstition. When people do not know why a thing happens in a certain way, they attribute its happening to good or bad luck. People to whom pleasant things often happen are called “lucky”; and those who seem to be always meeting with misfortune are called “unlucky”; as if there were something in themselves that attracts good or bad fortune. They even think that inanimate things can bring them good or bad luck. So they wear charms to keep away misfortune and are really nervous if the salt is upset in their direction, or if they pass under a ladder, or see the new moon through glass.
Now of course all such superstitions are pure nonsense. There is really no such thing as luck or chance, and only foolish people waste their time in waiting for a miracle of good luck to bring them a fortune. The wise man will try to attain it by hard work, wise effort, and enterprise, and Will leave nothing to chance. Most of the people who are called “lucky” have good fortune because they work for it, and the so-called “unlucky” men miss it because they are lazy or dull.
Luck
Essay # 2
Modern science has taught us that nothing happens by chance. Everything is the effect of some cause, even though we may not be able to discover what that cause is. Not a leaf falls to the ground, not a wind blows, and not a flower opens, without a reason. There is really, then, no such thing as chance. But we still use the word to describe happenings the reason of which we do not know, and when such apparently causeless happenings are favourable to our interests we say they are lucky; when unfavourable, we say they are unlucky.
All gambling games are games of chances because they are decided not by skill or forethought, but simply by the happening of something which we cannot control, like the fall of a coin or the turning up of a certain card. No doubt there is the reason why, when we spin a coin, it is sometimes “heads” and sometimes “tails.” But if we play fairly, we cannot discover that reason, and so we cannot control the fall of the coin So we say that it’s turning up heads or tails is simply a matter of luck or chance.
Now ignorance always produces superstition. When people do not know why a thing happens in a certain way, they attribute its happening to good or bad luck. People, to whom pleasant things often happen, is called “lucky” men; and those who are always meeting with misfortune are called “unlucky,” as if there were something in the people themselves that attracted good or bad fortune. When folk have once got this idea of good and bad luck into their heads, they believe in all kinds of silly superstitions, and really think that inanimate things can bring them good fortune or bad fortune. Such people are really nervous if the salt is upset on the table in their direction; if they sleep in a room numbered 13 at a hotel; if they pass under a ladder; or see the new moon through glass. These things, for no reason at all, are supposed to bring bad luck.
Now of course all such superstitions are pure nonsense, and no educated person should bother about them for a moment. There is really no such thing as luck or chance, and only foolish people waste their lives in waiting for a miracle of good luck to bring them a fortune. The wise man will try to attain it by hard work, wise effort and enterprise, and leave nothing to chance. Most of the people who are called “lucky” have good fortune because they work for it, and so-called “unlucky men” miss it because they are lazy or stupid.
