“Every living thing is, from the cosmic perspective, incredibly lucky simply to be alive. Most, 90 percent and more, of all the organisms that have ever lived have died without viable offspring, but not a single one of your ancestors, going back to the dawn of life on Earth, suffered that normal misfortune. You spring from an unbroken line of winners.” LifeEarthLinesAlivePerspectiveLuckyNormalSpringPercentDiedWinnerDawnMisfortunesCosmicAncestorOrganismsLiving ThingsOffspringUnbroken Author:Daniel Dennett
“Keynes was chief economic adviser to the British government and largely responsible for keeping the British economy afloat at a time when more than half of our gross national product, and all of our foreign exchange, was being spent on the war. I was lucky to be present at one of his rare appearances in Cambridge, when he gave a lecture with the title "Newton, the Man." Four years later he died of heart failure, precipitated by overwork and the hardships of crossing the Atlantic repeatedly in slow propeller-driven airplanes under wartime conditions.” MenYearsHeartWarGovernmentHalfEconomyFourEconomicConditionsHe ManProductsLuckyDiedResponsibleAppearanceBritishDrivenChiefsTitlesHardshipFour YearsAirplaneGrossLecturesNewtonCrossingsAdviserCambridgeWartimeOverworkKeynesBritish GovernmentHeart FailurePropellerForeign ExchangeBritish Economy Author:Freeman Dyson
“Has it ever occurred to you how lucky you are to be alive? More than 99 percent of all the creatures that have ever lived have died without progeny, but not a single one of your ancestors falls into that group! ... Not a single one of your ancestors, all the way back to the bacteria, succumbed to predation before reproducing, or lost out in the competition for a mate.” WayFallLostAliveGroupsAtheismLuckyCreaturesPercentDiedCompetitionPositive AtheismMatesAncestorBacteriaLucky YouProgenyReproducing Author:Daniel Dennett
“I feel really lucky to have found musical success before I'm 30, to be doing absolutely what I want to do. I would be quite happy if I died tomorrow.” IfsWantFeelsWould BeFoundTomorrowLuckyDiedMusical Author:Dido Armstrong