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We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?

History can bring luck: this is what we can call optimism.

Much of what we do in life has a huge component of luck.

Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.

History is rich with adventurous men, long on charisma, with a highly developed instinct for their own interests, who have pursued personal power - bypassing parliaments and constitutions, distributing favours to their minions, and conflating their own desires with the interests of the community.

I thought I would reflect here on a theme most scientists enjoy recalling: the part luck played in their accomplishments.

What gets in our way is history and culture and religion and economic conditions. It is part of the hypnosis of our social conditioning.

Luck, bad if not good, will always be with us. But it has a way of favoring the intelligent and showing its back to the stupid.

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.

The theme of luck comes up a lot. It's something I thought about before, why some people are lucky and some people aren't lucky. It seems like some people you meet can sort of cultivate luck, and I've always been fascinated by that.