--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must believe in luck. For how else can…" description: "\"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?\" — Jean Cocteau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/jean-cocteau-1181_believe_we-must-believe-in-luck-for-how-else-can_2193862.jpg" --- # We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the… ![“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/jean-cocteau-1181_believe_we-must-believe-in-luck-for-how-else-can_2193862.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/jean-cocteau-1181_believe_we-must-believe-in-luck-for-how-else-can_2193862.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/jean-cocteau-1181_believe_we-must-believe-in-luck-for-how-else-can_2193862.jpg) > “We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?” [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attributing success to luck rationalizes why disliked individuals thrive. **In simple terms:** Luck explains others' success. Key Takeaway Question narratives of luck. Themes philosophy psychology success Mood reflective critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career analysis - political discourse - media critique - personal reflection Key Concepts Attribution theory social perception Questions to Reflect On - Do you attribute your own success to luck? - How does luck influence fairness? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you don't like?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you-2/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If you ask me can you explain the success of Facebook or Twitter, its very simple. People want to have the right to speak,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-petit/if-you-ask-me-can-you-explain-the-success-of-facebook-or-twitter-its/) [Emmanuel Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-petit/) > [Whenever I meet someone, the topic of conversation always winds around to the question: 'how do you explain your success?' Well, I have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soupy-sales/whenever-i-meet-someone-the-topic-of-conversation-always-winds-around/) [Soupy Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soupy-sales/) > [ \[...\] allowing only ordinary ability and opportunity, we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! Not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/allowing-only-ordinary-ability-and-opportunity-we-may-explain-success/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Two factors explain our success. One, MIT's renaissance after World War II as a federally supported research resource. Two, the mathematical revolution in macro-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-samuelson/two-factors-explain-our-success-one-mit-s-renaissance-after-world-war/) [Paul Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-samuelson/) > [We may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/we-may-explain-success-mainly-by-one-word-and-that-word-is-work-work/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The vocabulary of my cynical world doesn't allow me to explain the success of 'Lean In.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nell-scovell/the-vocabulary-of-my-cynical-world-doesn-t-allow-me-to-explain-the/) [Nell Scovell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nell-scovell/) > [You can't explain success in retrospect. The moment you leap into the void, that moment is impossible to negate, after success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/you-can-t-explain-success-in-retrospect-the-moment-you-leap-into-the/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [I'll wager there isn't a human being on earth who doesn't believe in luck, however rational they pretend to be in public life. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/i-ll-wager-there-isn-t-a-human-being-on-earth-who-doesn-t-believe-in/) [Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/) > [I don't believe in luck. ... It's persistence, hard work, and not forgetting your dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-jackson/i-don-t-believe-in-luck-it-s-persistence-hard-work-and-not-forgetting/) [Janet Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-jackson/) > [“I do not believe in luck, I believe in effort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-do-not-believe-in-luck-i-believe-in-effort/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do you believe in luck, Ludlow?" I had thought about this more than once in my life. "I believe some poeple are luckier than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-believe-in-luck-ludlow-i-had-thought-about-this-more-than-once/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“To believe in luck, you must believe that the universe is a roulette wheel and that instead of paying out to us what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/to-believe-in-luck-you-must-believe-that-the-universe-is-a-roulette/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“What's the truth? The truth is what happened to you and him or her, over the years, and what didn't happen. The truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-overton/what-s-the-truth-the-truth-is-what-happened-to-you-and-him-or-her/) Margaret Overton ## More by Jean Cocteau > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I am happy to exhibit, but not to put myself on exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-am-happy-to-exhibit-but-not-to-put-myself-on-exhibition/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-have-a-piece-of-great-and-sad-news-to-tell-you-i-am-dead/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lying is the only art form that the public sanctions and instinctively prefers to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lying-is-the-only-art-form-that-the-public-sanctions-and/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Vivre est une chute horizontale”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/vivre-est-une-chute-horizontale/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I expect a black silence that is almost as violent as laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-expect-a-black-silence-that-is-almost-as-violent-as-laughter/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/my-method-is-simple-not-to-bother-about-poetry-it-must-come-of-its/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lack of manners is the sign of a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lack-of-manners-is-the-sign-of-a-hero/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-the-public-criticizes-in-you-cultivate-it-is-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/here-i-am-trying-to-live-or-rather-i-am-trying-to-teach-the-death/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) [Explore all 255 Jean Cocteau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must believe in luck. 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