Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.
Terry Pratchett
Related Million-to-one chances...crop up nine times out of ten. TERRY PRATCHETT I was like, 'I can't believed I missed that.' It was a one-in-a-million that I'd miss that. That goa... ALEX GUERRERO Rory: "People are being serious." Jazza: "There's a serial killer out there. Of course pe... MAUREEN JOHNSON I just think it's patently absurd for scientists to categorize objects on the basis of the numbe... ALAN STERN No second chances in the land of a thousand dances, the valley of ten million insanities. RY COODER I think I need divine intervention to win a game, because this one was a clear-cut winner for us. We... DANNY LYN The cynics are right nine times out of ten. H. L. MENCKEN The cynics are right nine times out of ten. HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN Life is a series of calculated risks, James. I happen to think that this one is worth it. LISH MCBRIDE Even if he has a pair of aces there, I still have nine outs twice (two chances to catch one of the n... RON ROSE Sadly for one million children, their future chances are wrecked by bad housing. BEN JACKSON Words calculated to catch everyone may catch no one. ADLAI E. STEVENSON JR. The chances are greater than zero, but not much. Regardless of who's asking for an injunction, the c... WILLIAM KOVACIC Every one in a crowd has the power to throw dirt: nine out of ten have the inclination WILLIAM HAZLITT That was a tough one. But there are no excuses. We had chances and they had chances, but they just c... CAM WARD The chances of a person breaking through their own habits and sloth and limited mind to actually wri... GEORGE SAUNDERS (Scott) has a strong desire to score. He's a very good one-on-one player and we've noticed that we'v... JEFF LENHERR Most sane human beings’ chances of being alive in a thousand years’ time are a hundred times hig... MOKOKOMA MOKHONOANA In matters of truth the fact that you don't want to publish something is, nine times out of ten, a p... G. K. CHESTERTON Nobody wants to look like a fool. Nine times out of ten, that reason alone keeps people from al... DARYNDA JONES The sad reality is that groups have already interacted by insulting each other's religions. In most ... ANDREW WALSH Food Allergies Are Not Due to Food, Rather Are Due to the Constant Contamination of That Food That Y... THEHEALTHFOODGURU We've won nine of the last 11, so I like our chances. ERIC DIBIASE Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. BILL GATES In matters of truth the fact that you don't want to publish something is, nine times out of ten,... GILBERT K. CHESTERTON Transit is the tough one. You could argue that something could survive tens of thousands of years of... CATHARINE CONLEY I generally find that comparison is the fast track to unhappiness. No one ever compares themselves t... JACK CANFIELD You have to know how to read your lie and take a calculated risk when you hit out of the rough. ERNIE ELS Some days, I am as evil as evil gets but nine out of ten times; it is good that ends up winning the ... ENRIQUE VEGA When I was young I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures, so I did ten time... GEORGE BERNARD SHAW When I was young I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures, so I did ten time... GEORGE BERNARD SHAW We had our chances to take them out. Everything ended up hanging on one play. LYNDELL ZANOTTI I know grand finals are one-off games and you have to make the most of the few chances that may come... BEN GOLLINGS We are as gods to beasts of the field. We order the time of their birth and the time of their death.... TERRY PRATCHETT You have a new rule system which is so calculated, so difficult and so complicated. DICK BUTTON I won't forget it. That's the first time I got the chance to do something like that, and I messed up... ISAIAH SWANN Life gives you lots of chances to screw up which means you have just as many chances to get it right... CANDACE BUSHNELL The chances that we did have, we didn't finish them. They had three chances and they went in. Every ... AMANDA MELCHOR I think you can have moderate success by copying something else, but if you really want to knock it ... LEE ANN WOMACK All I ever did to that apartment was hang fifty yards of yellow theatrical silk across the bedroom w... JOAN DIDION We can never make proper goodbyes. It was your last ride in a Checker cab and you had no warning. It... COLSON WHITEHEAD People who calculated what they could afford when rates were 5.25 percent have realized their mortga... ANTHONY HSIEH Our lives!!! We have just all of a sudden discovered that here we are with something called life see... SUNDAY ADELAJA You're actually close. You just have to get back to the bargaining table, negotiate in good faith, c... GIL MCGOWAN I'm all about taking chances. You have to ask yourself, if you're not taking any chances, ar... CEELO GREEN There's millions of survivors out there; make it one million and one. TOM HANKS I think the mistake lots of people make when it comes to a psychopath is that they completely write ... JAMES NORTON The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there... CHARLES FRANKLIN KETTERING The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there... CHARLES KETTERING The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there... CHARLES F. KETTERING Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the rea... HERACLITUS the false reports are, of course, calculated to do the agency severe harm. WILLIAM MORRIS In nine times out of ten, the slanderous tongue belongs to a disappointed person. GEORGE BANCROFT Computers are very powerful tools, but in the simulated world of the computer, everything has to be ... MARGARET WERTHEIM People want to be bowled over by something special. Nine times out of ten you can forget, but that t... HARUKI MURAKAMI The more times people try to stop smoking, the better chances they have of eventually stopping it al... KAREN STEINBERG I think most astronauts are not risk takers. We take calculated risks for something that we think is... MICHAEL J. MASSIMINO Calculated risks of abuse are taken in order to preserve higher values. WARREN EARL BURGER Calculated risks of abuse are taken in order to preserve higher values. WARREN E. BURGER Calculated risks of abuse are taken in order to preserve higher values. WARREN E. BURGER We are playing well and creating chances but can't get that second goal. But sometimes one is enough... HARRY KEWELL It's a carefully calculated effort on the part of the people that manatees are in the way of. PATTI THOMPSON What are your thoughts on Dundee's promotion chances? That is a million miles away. ALAN KERNAGHAN This is one of the last chances we have. The reports of the text messages, you'd like to believe the... ROSETTE LERIAS When I was a young man I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I didn't want to ... GEORGE BERNARD SHAW We battled away at times, but we are not creating chances and that is very disappointing, ALAN SHEARER I believe in instinct, not in reason. When reason is right, nine times out of ten it is impotent, an... A. C. BENSON Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or id... ANDRE MALRAUX I've been working harder. All of us have been working harder. After this one, there are no more chan... LANCE BUTLER I don't play with my life by talking bullshit. I might have some chances in this bitchy life, TOBA BETA But that's a calculated guess. MEL RULL I have a hard time listening to things I've recorded. I don't necessarily go back and enjoy ... BRIAN D'ARCY JAMES There are just so many good players in town now that it's almost a disservice to have only one team.... JUSTIN CHANDLER The recovery effort is one that's going to require three to five years at a minimum, and the agencie... JIM BISHOP At the moment, the chances of passing this package in one go look slim. Efforts are being invested t... LIOR HOREV Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or id... MAXWELL MALTZ Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or id... ANDRE MALRAUX We don't have a lot of guys that have been deep in the postseason. (But) Richard is one of those guy... BEN BRAUN O, the sheer magnificence of words that come together like waves upon a beach, each telling its own ... JOHN M SHEEHAN The recent surge in fuel prices and Delta's disclosure that it will have to post 750 million dollars... PHILIP BAGGALEY A lifetime isn't forever, so take the first chance, don't wait for the second one! Because sometimes... C. JOYBELL C. Our being is subject to all the chances of life. There are so many things we are capable of, that we... KATHERINE ANNE PORTER I’m not ashamed to admit that I take only calculated risk. Still, there’s been times my little a... BOBBY W. MILLER Writers and musicians are very similar in that the chances of making a life in either field are so i... STACEY D'ERASMO I pretty much have to try and make the best of it when I get on the field or have the ball. I've jus... DARREN SPROLES I was getting myself into good shape and knew that I had my chances with a couple of par fives comin... MARK JOHNSON Nine times out of ten, talking is a way of avoiding doing things. PATRICIA C. WREDE I've never been reckless - it's always calculated. I'm mischievous, but I'm calculat... DRAKE First of all, the chances that both guys are there (at the 13th pick) is virtually nonexistent. The ... ERIC DECOSTA Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or ide... MAXWELL MALTZ No one knows that a simple and calculated decision for the one with potential, is the final end of t... KATE When you have a guy like Breuer, chances are he'll get at least one goal a game. FRANK SPURCHISE We had our chances. We could have won. But one mistake in overtime won it for them. JACQUES LEMAIRE You will see that the defendant is nothing but a cold, calculated, callous murderer, TOM O'CONNOR Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is... JAMES A. GARFIELD seem almost calculated to disappoint. GEORGE WORTHINGTON Mark My Words, My Words In Other Words Are Not Just Words. SYED SHARUKH We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. MAXWELL MALTZ What finally is beauty? Certainly nothing that can be calculated or measured. It is always something... LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE This is what analysts have calculated. It's a number that's out there and we're not arguing with it. DAVID KIRK
More Terry Pratchett
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TERRY PRATCHETT It occurred to me that at one point it was like I had two diseases - one was Alzheimer's, and th... TERRY PRATCHETT By the time you've reached your sixties, you do know that one day you will die, and knowing that... TERRY PRATCHETT It seems sensible to me that we should look to the medical profession, that over the centuries has h... TERRY PRATCHETT Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree. TERRY PRATCHETT You have to have really wide reading habits and pay attention to the news and just everything that... TERRY PRATCHETT The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head. TERRY PRATCHETT Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind. TERRY PRATCHETT You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a m... TERRY PRATCHETT I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence o... TERRY PRATCHETT Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, ... TERRY PRATCHETT Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces. TERRY PRATCHETT It's useful to go out of this world and see it from the perspective of another one. TERRY PRATCHETT It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's... TERRY PRATCHETT It's not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewere, would muc... TERRY PRATCHETT This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic. TERRY PRATCHETT The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp. TERRY PRATCHETT Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out til too late that he's be... TERRY PRATCHETT Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness. TERRY PRATCHETT Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. 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TERRY PRATCHETT He's bound to have done something ,” Nobby repeated. In this he was echoing the P... TERRY PRATCHETT Sometimes the crime follows the punishment, which only serves to prove the foresight of the Great Go... TERRY PRATCHETT 'Educational' refers to the process, not the object. Although, come to think of it, some of ... TERRY PRATCHETT Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. It’s a feeling inside that can hardly be contained... TERRY PRATCHETT No more words. We know them all, all the words that should not be said. But you have made my world m... TERRY PRATCHETT And what would humans be without love?" RARE, said Death. TERRY PRATCHETT That's why it's always worth having a few philosophers around the place. One minute it's all is trut... TERRY PRATCHETT Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld. Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant... TERRY PRATCHETT Everything starts somewhere, though many physicists disagree. But people have always been dimly awar... TERRY PRATCHETT The living often don’t appreciate how complicated the world looks when you are dead, because while... TERRY PRATCHETT Hello, inner child, I'm the inner babysitter! TERRY PRATCHETT I like writing. I get cranky when I can't. Yes, I write books back to back, and I work very hard... TERRY PRATCHETT The baby boomers are getting older, and will stay older for longer. And they will run right into the... TERRY PRATCHETT We have been so successful in the past century at the art of living longer and staying alive that we... TERRY PRATCHETT I regarded finding I had a form of Alzheimer's as an insult and decided to do my best to marshal... TERRY PRATCHETT The bravest person I've ever met was a young boy going through massive amounts of treatment for ... TERRY PRATCHETT Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who would not rather be a rising a... TERRY PRATCHETT My advice is this. For Christ's sake, don't write a book that is suitable for a kid of 12 ye... TERRY PRATCHETT You can't build a plot out of jokes. You need tragic relief. And you need to let people know tha... TERRY PRATCHETT He was the sort of person who stood on mountaintops during thunderstorms in wet copper armour shouti... TERRY PRATCHETT Christ managed to boil down an awful lot of commandments to a few very simple rules for living. It... TERRY PRATCHETT My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage... TERRY PRATCHETT And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. TERRY PRATCHETT Everybody has somebody. It could be a friend, a lover, a spouse, a writing partner, or even That One... TERRY PRATCHETT I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people and bad people. You'r... TERRY PRATCHETT But what's worth more than gold?" "Practically everything. You, for example. Gold is heav... TERRY PRATCHETT Gnomes live ten times faster than humans. They're harder to see than a high-speed mouse. That's on... TERRY PRATCHETT She walked quickly through the darkness with the frank stride of someone who was at least certain th... TERRY PRATCHETT My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage... TERRY PRATCHETT There was this about vampires : they could never look scruffy. Instead, they were... what was the wo... TERRY PRATCHETT Steal five dollars and you're a common thief. Steal thousands and you're either the government or a ... TERRY PRATCHETT Of course I'm sane, when trees start talking to me, I don't talk back. TERRY PRATCHETT The trouble is you can shut your eyes but you can’t shut your mind. TERRY PRATCHETT Nanny Ogg looked under her bed in case there was a man there. Well, you never knew your luck. TERRY PRATCHETT Ginger: You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world?... It's all the people who never f... 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TERRY PRATCHETT His progress through life was hampered by his tremendous sense of his own ignorance, a disability wh... TERRY PRATCHETT Just because someone's a member of an ethnic minority doesn't mean they're not a nasty small-minded ... TERRY PRATCHETT Maurice watched them argue again. Humans, eh? Think they're lords of creation. Not like us cats. We ... TERRY PRATCHETT The only superstition I have is that I must start a new book on the same day that I finish the last ... TERRY PRATCHETT Dickens, as you know, never got round to starting his home page. TERRY PRATCHETT Nothing I can say or devise, and nothing anybody else can say or devise, is going to be perfect. TERRY PRATCHETT The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's as though you always get in ten minutes af... TERRY PRATCHETT Seven hundred thousand people who have dementia in this country are not heard. I'm fortunate; I ... TERRY PRATCHETT It was one of those problematic occasions with long silences, sporadic coughs, and people saying iso... TERRY PRATCHETT Personally, I think the best motto for an educational establishment is: 'Or Would You Rather Be ... TERRY PRATCHETT Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.Elves are fantasti... TERRY PRATCHETT Rincewind had been told that death was just like going into another room. The difference is, when yo... TERRY PRATCHETT The point is that descriptive writing is very rarely entirely accurate and during the reign of Olaf ... TERRY PRATCHETT Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves ar... TERRY PRATCHETT "Why does everyone run toward a blood curdling scream?" mumbled the Senior Wrangler. "It is contrary... TERRY PRATCHETT A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores. TERRY PRATCHETT Sham Harga had run a succesful eatery for many years by always smiling, never extending credit, and ... TERRY PRATCHETT It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If ... TERRY PRATCHETT It could not be happening because this sort of thing did not happen. Any contradictory evidence coul... TERRY PRATCHETT An education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs ... TERRY PRATCHETT A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read. TERRY PRATCHETT Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate... TERRY PRATCHETT The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then... TERRY PRATCHETT For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) ... TERRY PRATCHETT Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his l... TERRY PRATCHETT In the begining there was nothing, and it exploded. TERRY PRATCHETT Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off. TERRY PRATCHETT The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head. TERRY PRATCHETT God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which migh... TERRY PRATCHETT That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: "I... TERRY PRATCHETT