--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chance often gives us that which we…" description: "\"Chance often gives us that which we should not have presumed to ask.\" — Alphonse de Lamartine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png" --- # Chance often gives us that which we should not have… ![“Chance often gives us that which we should not have presumed to ask.” quote by Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png) > “Chance often gives us that which we should not have presumed to ask.” [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unexpected opportunities arise that we never thought to seek. **In simple terms:** Unexpected chances appear. Key Takeaway Stay open to unplanned possibilities. Themes chance serendipity expectation Mood reflective optimistic Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - career pivots - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts Opportunity fate mindset Questions to Reflect On - What opportunities have you ignored? - How can you prepare for unexpected offers? A Different Perspective Assumes all chances are positive, ignoring risk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) ## Related quotes > [Chance gives a smile to the one who is ready to take it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroko-sakai/chance-gives-a-smile-to-the-one-who-is-ready-to-take-it/) [Hiroko Sakai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroko-sakai/) > [Of course, looking at other young players getting a chance gives you a boost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reece-james/of-course-looking-at-other-young-players-getting-a-chance-gives-you-a/) [Reece James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reece-james/) > [Second Chance: Who gives a fuck about your first love. Give a big round of applause for your second love, cause they taught you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/second-chance-who-gives-a-fuck-about-your-first-love-give-a-big-round/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Chance gives rise to thoughts, and chance removes them; no art can keep or acquire them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/chance-gives-rise-to-thoughts-and-chance-removes-them-no-art-can-keep/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I have remained resentful to this day When any but myself presumed to say That there was anything I couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/i-have-remained-resentful-to-this-day-when-any-but-myself-presumed-to/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [“(This place) presumed to be a town then, but was hardly more than a word under a tin roof.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/this-place-presumed-to-be-a-town-then-but-was-hardly-more-than-a-word/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“They presumed a knowledge and an intimacy they did not have and had no right to. Some”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/they-presumed-a-knowledge-and-an-intimacy-they-did-not-have-and-had/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [Nothing is to be presumed on, or despaired of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/nothing-is-to-be-presumed-on-or-despaired-of/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [“Her name was Her, but what was hers? His name was His, and he presumed everything was his, including her, and he thought he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/her-name-was-her-but-what-was-hers-his-name-was-his-and-he-presumed/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“However, in ordinary life, one cannot live by such principles. Imagine the time it would take if every aspect of experience had to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/however-in-ordinary-life-one-cannot-live-by-such-principles-imagine/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“If prayer fails I am in a greater darkness yet, not knowing whether I have presumed too much or believed too little.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-l-west/if-prayer-fails-i-am-in-a-greater-darkness-yet-not-knowing-whether-i/) [Morris L. West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-l-west/) > [Those who are once found to be bad are presumed to be so forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/latin-proverb/those-who-are-once-found-to-be-bad-are-presumed-to-be-so-forever/) Latin Proverb > [In athletics, the idea of possibility is presumed. It's not 'if;' it's 'how.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-mullins/in-athletics-the-idea-of-possibility-is-presumed-it-s-not-if-it-s-how/) [Aimee Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-mullins/) > [ The Crime, from us, is hidden, \[though\] he is presumed to know. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-crime-from-us-is-hidden-though-he-is-presumed-to-know/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [All are presumed good till they are found at fault.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/all-are-presumed-good-till-they-are-found-at-fault/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) ## More by Alphonse de Lamartine > [Grief and sadness knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger than common joys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/grief-and-sadness-knits-two-hearts-in-closer-bonds-than-happiness/) [Alphonse De Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Habit with it's iron sinews, clasps us and leads us day by day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/habit-with-it-s-iron-sinews-clasps-us-and-leads-us-day-by-day/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [History is neither more nor less than biography on a large scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/history-is-neither-more-nor-less-than-biography-on-a-large-scale/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Silence,--the applause of real and durable impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/silence-the-applause-of-real-and-durable-impressions/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Let us enjoy the fugitive hour. Man has no harbor, time has no shore; it rushes on, and carries us with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/let-us-enjoy-the-fugitive-hour-man-has-no-harbor-time-has-no-shore-it/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Void of freedom, what would virtue be?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/void-of-freedom-what-would-virtue-be/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [I am persuaded that if the brutes even--if the dog, the horse, the ox, the elephant, the bird, could speak, they would confess, that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/i-am-persuaded-that-if-the-brutes-even-if-the-dog-the-horse-the-ox/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [The most effective coquetry is innocence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/the-most-effective-coquetry-is-innocence/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [There is a woman at the begining of all great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/there-is-a-woman-at-the-begining-of-all-great-things/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Enthusiasm springs from the imagination, and self-sacrifice from the heart. Women are, therefore, more naturally heroic than men. All nations have in their annals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/enthusiasm-springs-from-the-imagination-and-self-sacrifice-from-the/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [True love is the ripe fruit of a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/true-love-is-the-ripe-fruit-of-a-lifetime/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [At twenty every one is republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/at-twenty-every-one-is-republican/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [We are earth's children, and life is the same in sap as in blood; all that the earth, our mother, feels and expresses to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/we-are-earth-s-children-and-life-is-the-same-in-sap-as-in-blood-all/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Let us savour the swift delights of the most beautiful of our days!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/let-us-savour-the-swift-delights-of-the-most-beautiful-of-our-days/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) > [Shall not this bygone Eden that we knew In our Eternal Life have shape and hue? For where Time is not shall not all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/shall-not-this-bygone-eden-that-we-knew-in-our-eternal-life-have/) [Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) [Explore all 134 Alphonse de Lamartine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/) ## More Asks quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [I don't wear a watch because I want my arms to weigh the same. So if somebody asks me what time it is, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-don-t-wear-a-watch-because-i-want-my-arms-to-weigh-the-same-so-if/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [I am a practicing Catholic, but my lineage is Jewish, so if someone asks me if I'm Jewish, I say yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-campbell/i-am-a-practicing-catholic-but-my-lineage-is-jewish-so-if-someone/) [Neve Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-campbell/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [There is nothing more I ask of this life than this moment, exactly so. And suddenly forever seems like too short a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-andreas/there-is-nothing-more-i-ask-of-this-life-than-this-moment-exactly-so/) [Brian Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-andreas/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-most-fundamental-question-we-can-ever-ask-ourselves-is-whether-or/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) > [For someone to ask 'Who did you play for' and to be able to answer a single name 'Liverpool' that would be brilliant...I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-carragher/for-someone-to-ask-who-did-you-play-for-and-to-be-able-to-answer-a/) [Jamie Carragher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-carragher/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I don't know how to say it exactly. Only...I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?' he asks. I shake my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-don-t-know-how-to-say-it-exactly-only-i-want-to-die-as-myself-does/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) Browse all 7,138 Asks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Chance often gives us that which we should not have presumed to ask.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alphonse de Lamartine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-should-not-have-presumed-to-ask/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-should-not-have-presumed-to-ask/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/alphonse-de-lamartine-3047_asks_chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-shou_776203.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Chance often gives us that which we should not have presumed to ask.” — Alphonse de Lamartine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alphonse de Lamartine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Chance often gives us that which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-should-not-have-presumed-to-ask/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/chance-often-gives-us-that-which-we-should-not-have-presumed-to-ask/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```