--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two kinds of opportunities: one…" description: "\"“There are two kinds of opportunities: one which we chance upon, the other which we create.”\" — Ruth Benedict" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/ruth-benedict-10946_chance_there-are-two-kinds-of-opportunities-one_2480620.jpg" --- # There are two kinds of opportunities: one which we chance… ![“There are two kinds of opportunities: one which we chance upon, the other which we create.” quote by Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/ruth-benedict-10946_chance_there-are-two-kinds-of-opportunities-one_2480620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/ruth-benedict-10946_chance_there-are-two-kinds-of-opportunities-one_2480620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/ruth-benedict-10946_chance_there-are-two-kinds-of-opportunities-one_2480620.jpg) > ““There are two kinds of opportunities: one which we chance upon, the other which we create.”” [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Opportunities arise either by luck or by deliberate effort; creating them requires proactive planning. **In simple terms:** Opportunities are found or made. Key Takeaway Be proactive in making chances. Themes opportunity initiative creativity Mood motivated optimistic Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - career advancement - entrepreneurship - networking - personal projects Key Concepts proactivity agency strategic planning Questions to Reflect On - What can you do today to create a new opportunity? - How do you balance waiting for luck versus taking action? A Different Perspective Creating opportunities demands resources and risk tolerance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Chance Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance-create-671247/) [Kinds Opportunities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kinds-opportunities-860433/) [Opportunities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunities/) [Opportunities Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunities-chance-860432/) ## Related quotes > [I think I put myself in a position where I have all kinds of opportunities available to me, if God forbid something doesn't work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-yee/i-think-i-put-myself-in-a-position-where-i-have-all-kinds-of/) [Angela Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-yee/) > [I set the bar high because I don't want to do just any other show just to keep working. I want to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idina-menzel/i-set-the-bar-high-because-i-don-t-want-to-do-just-any-other-show/) [Idina Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idina-menzel/) > [“Starting over didn’t have to be scary or painful if you looked at it for what it was—a clean slate, a chance to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-anne-crosby/starting-over-didn-t-have-to-be-scary-or-painful-if-you-looked-at-it/) [Tanya Anne Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-anne-crosby/) > [I feel like writing music is a great chance to create something that extends beyond yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomston/i-feel-like-writing-music-is-a-great-chance-to-create-something-that/) [Thomston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomston/) > [Give the young half a chance and they will create their own future, they will even create their own heaven and earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/give-the-young-half-a-chance-and-they-will-create-their-own-future/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Never, ever, ever think that your life is over, but know always that each day, each hour, each moment is another beginning, another opportunity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/never-ever-ever-think-that-your-life-is-over-but-know-always-that/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [It just takes that one artist to take the chance to create the next wave of popular music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sky-blu/it-just-takes-that-one-artist-to-take-the-chance-to-create-the-next/) [Sky Blu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sky-blu/) > [If someone gave me the chance to create something, I put myself into it. I just want to try to do something that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-west/if-someone-gave-me-the-chance-to-create-something-i-put-myself-into/) [Billy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-west/) > [“If you spend your whole life trying to find yourself, you might miss your chance to create the person you're trying to find.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connor-chalfant/if-you-spend-your-whole-life-trying-to-find-yourself-you-might-miss/) [Connor Chalfant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connor-chalfant/) > [If you're lucky, and not a lot of actors are these days, you get the chance to create a character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurt/if-you-re-lucky-and-not-a-lot-of-actors-are-these-days-you-get-the/) [William Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurt/) > [Take a chance on the opportunities your gut says are good, because somethings only happen once!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-a-chance-on-the-opportunities-your-gut-says-are-good-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I certainly have opportunities many can only dream of - but in most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pippa-middleton/i-certainly-have-opportunities-many-can-only-dream-of-but-in-most/) [Pippa Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pippa-middleton/) > [“There is no interaction without God with interaction with men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/there-is-no-interaction-without-god-with-interaction-with-men/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I'm not a classically trained actor, but I've been given a lot of opportunities along the way to kind of figure it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bridget-everett/i-m-not-a-classically-trained-actor-but-i-ve-been-given-a-lot-of/) [Bridget Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bridget-everett/) > [“If you don’t try, you forfeit the opportunity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/if-you-don-t-try-you-forfeit-the-opportunity/) [Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/) ## More by Ruth Benedict > [We grow in time to trust the future for our answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/we-grow-in-time-to-trust-the-future-for-our-answers/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [An observer will see the bizarre developments of behavior only in alien cultures, not his own. Nevertheless this is obviously a local and temporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/an-observer-will-see-the-bizarre-developments-of-behavior-only-in/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/in-world-history-those-who-have-helped-to-build-the-same-culture-are/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [It is strange how long we rebel against a platitude until suddenly in a different lingo it looms up again as the only verity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/it-is-strange-how-long-we-rebel-against-a-platitude-until-suddenly-in/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [“Experience, contrary to common belief, is mostly imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/experience-contrary-to-common-belief-is-mostly-imagination/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [I gambled on having the strength to live two lives, one for myself and one for the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/i-gambled-on-having-the-strength-to-live-two-lives-one-for-myself-and/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Western civilization, because of fortuitous historical circumstances, has spread itself more widely than any other local group that has so far been known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/western-civilization-because-of-fortuitous-historical-circumstances/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The trouble is not that we are never happy - it is that happiness is so episodical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-trouble-is-not-that-we-are-never-happy-it-is-that-happiness-is-so/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [It is my necessary breath of life to understand and expression is the only justification of life that I can feel without prodding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/it-is-my-necessary-breath-of-life-to-understand-and-expression-is-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-purpose-of-anthropology-is-to-make-the-world-safe-for-human/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Success and failure in our own national economy will hang upon the degree to which we are able to work with races and nations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/success-and-failure-in-our-own-national-economy-will-hang-upon-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [I haven't strength of mind not to need a career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/i-haven-t-strength-of-mind-not-to-need-a-career/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [As a matter of history great developments in art have often been remarkably separate from religious motivation and use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/as-a-matter-of-history-great-developments-in-art-have-often-been/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/the-japanese-are-to-the-highest-degree-both-aggressive-and/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) > [Society in its full sense ... is never an entity separable from the individuals who compose it. No individual can arrive even at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-benedict/society-in-its-full-sense-is-never-an-entity-separable-from-the/) [Ruth Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) [Explore all 62 Ruth Benedict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-benedict/) ## More Chance quotes > [Before I debuted, it was my goal to make my debut, and afterwards, I aimed at winning champion titles on television music shows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyuna/before-i-debuted-it-was-my-goal-to-make-my-debut-and-afterwards-i/) [Hyuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyuna/) > [I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. 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But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It's not who, it's when”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-taubas/it-s-not-who-it-s-when/) [Alejandro Taubas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-taubas/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. 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