Opportunity quotes
7.9K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside opportunity — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"Only in this form of separation the black man is exploited. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says that we should be separate, all right, but in this separate state or separate existence, the black man should be given the opportunity and the incentive to do for himself what the white man has done for himself."
"As long as the factories are in the hands of the whites, the housing is in the hands of the whites, the school system is in the hands of the whites, you have a situation where the blacks are constantly begging the whites can they use this or can they use that. That's not any kind of equality of opportunity, nor does it lend toward one's dignity."
"The only way the two can have equal job opportunities is if black people have factories as, as well as white people have factories."
"Boxing is already stable, as far as the opportunity to fight, opportunity for fighters to step inside the ring and make some money - I think that's OK, that's fairly legit. I just think fighters need to be represented when it comes down to making sure the "i" is dotted and the "t" is crossed."
"Leading up to the fight [Trevor Berbick] took every opportunity he could to badmouth Larry Holmes and I just blew up. After I beat him in the ring, he tried to get me going again, saying he deserved another fight, wasn't happening."
"Some fighter’s waist a lot of their energy. Wait for your opportunity and when it comes, avail yourself of it. The idea of boring in and throwing punches helter skelter without reason doesn’t amount to a row of pins. Every time you miss a swing it is worse than being hit."
"The human brain represents the infinity opportunity our powers are endless if we understand, harness, and empower ourselves to look inside and educate ourselves on our potential."
"I remember harrowing episodes. People who emigrated, people who didn't want to emigrate...Many Muslims didn't want to leave India to go to live in Pakistan, but the propaganda was that there they'd have greater opportunities and so they left. Many Hindus, on the other hand, didn't want to stay in Pakistan, but they had ties there or property and so they stayed."
"While I am speaking the opportunity is lost."
"I dream about going back, but I know that it isn't easy. Thirty years of being in Europe has changed my life. I am not the Kurd from Syria anymore as I was before. Kurdistani Syria developed somewhere, and I developed elsewhere. I think we will not find each other easily again. If I go back I will be a foreigner in my own country now. But of course it remains a dream to make another movie in Syria, and I am waiting for that opportunity."
"Sometimes the things you plan for and hope for don't end up coming through and the thing you weren't really thinking about is the opportunity that kind of just blows your mind."
"There has long been a bemoaning of the lack of opportunity to make films that are anything but explosions or the ladling on the pea soup or whatever you want to call it. You can hardly make a movie today where somebody isn't a murderer or a rapist or, if it's a "Fried Green Tomatoes" that isn't some wistful thing on this, that or the other thing."
"Publicly, they claim to be thrilled to have the opportunity to engage directly with their customers; privately, they suspect, maybe even fervently hope, that Facebook and its spawn are fads."
"We're not really good at knowing what we want, and we are quick to say 'this sucks'. That's where the opportunity lies."
"I am racing to the studio the moment that God affords me the opportunity to hear again."
"We live in a culture where everyone is perfectly willing to do this [to make a lot of money], and they're just looking for the opportunity. Obviously, a person who is really dumb is not gonna make a zillion dollars. But for a person who is really smart, really smart, it's a boring pursuit. It's not endlessly fascinating."
"Before we start talking about genetic differences, you gotta come up with a system where there's equal opportunity."
"The particulars of life do not matter to the artist; they merely provide him with the opportunity to lay bare his genius."
"It can be hard to feel like you have to start from scratch when you have invested so much time with a person, but shortly after my break up I realized something: I wasn't losing the chance to have love - I was getting the opportunity to do it all over again."
"I told (God) I'd take every opportunity to speak for the kids who can't speak."
