About the Author
Professor Richard Wiseman has carried out extensive research into the psychology of luck and has featured on hundreds of radio and television programmes to present his findings. Articles about his work have appeared in The Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. He is also the author of the top-ten bestseller The Luck Factor and Did You Spot the Gorilla?
ALSO BY RICHARD WISEMAN
The Luck Factor
Did You Spot the Gorilla?
THE LITTLE BOOK OF LUCK
Richard Wiseman
This ebook is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form (including any digital form) other than this in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Epub ISBN: 9781446457764
Version 1.0
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Published in the United Kingdom in 2004 by Arrow Books
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Copyright Richard Wiseman, 2004
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Introduction
Luck exerts a dramatic influence over our lives.
A few seconds of bad fortune can unravel years of striving, while a moment of good luck can lead to success and happiness.
Luck has the power to transform the improbable into the possible; to make the difference between life and death, reward and ruin, happiness and despair.
But why are some people exceptionally lucky while others encounter little but ill fortune?
For the past ten years I have carried out scientific research into luck, examining the lives of hundreds of lucky and unlucky people.
This work has revealed that lucky and unlucky people create much of their good and bad fortune by the way they think and behave.
More importantly, my research has shown that everyone has the potential to increase their luck.
Unlucky people can become lucky and lucky people can become even luckier.
The Little Book of Luck is based on this work and will help you live a lucky life.
It is a bite-sized, fact-packed, fun guide that is full of top tips, practical exercises and inspirational quotes designed to help you increase your luck.
Have fun and be lucky.
RICHARD WISEMAN
An ounce of luck is better than a pound of wisdom.
ITALIAN PROVERB
Be daring.
Be random.
Be lucky.
No one is luckier than the person who believes in his luck.
GERMAN PROVERB
Behind bad luck comes good.
ROMANY PROVERB
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrows good luck.
OG MANDINO,
author of The Greatest Salesman in the World
Every wall is a door.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON,
American author, poet and philosopher
One chance is all you need.
JESSE OWENS,
athlete and Olympic champion 1936
Charms have not their power from contracts with spirits, but proceed wholly from strengthening the imagination.
SIR FRANCIS BACON,
Renaissance author and courtier
All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck, who keeps right on going, is the man who is there when the good luck comes and is ready to receive it.
ROBERT COLLIER,
author of The Secret of the Ages
I was made redundant and finding it very hard to find a job. A couple of weeks ago I received two rejections and was at my lowest point ever. Then I decided, NO, its not going to be bad, so I sat down at my computer and went through the jobs pages again.
I saw a position I knew I would enjoy. I then did some research and contacted the Chairman directly. I received a reply within 48 hours and then the offer of an interview. The interview went well and I was offered the position.
Thinking lucky has had such a positive effect on me that my boyfriend is actually starting to feel my attitude and luck rubbing off on him!
Jessica, 39, sales representative
I am a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
third President of the United States
Never frown, because you never know when someone is falling in love with your smile.
ANON.
Start every day off with a smile and get it over with.
W. C. FIELDS,
American comedian and actor
I am so unlucky last night I peeled a banana and it was empty.
ANON.
When good luck comes to you, invite her in.
SPANISH PROVERB
Learning how to be lucky has made me feel a lot more in control. I am a master of what happens to me.
When my car broke down before, the first thing on my mind would have been, It always happens to me, it never happens to anybody else. And now its, All right, well, how am I going to deal with it now?
So its far more positive and constructive.
Louise, 23, student
Luck is believing youre lucky.
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS,
American playwright
Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer.
ANON.
A few weeks ago I was walking back to my car in the garage and I saw a piece of paper on the ground. Normally I would have walked past It, but instead I treated it as an opportunity! I kicked it and there was a 20 note underneath. And when I picked it up I realised it was five 20 notes 100 in cash. It was just lying there.
Joseph, 35, mature student
Four things never come back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past and the neglected opportunity.
OMAR IDN AL-HALIF,
Arab scholar
I tried the luck-school exercises and not only has my perception of myself as a lucky person increased, my actual objective luck increased. I would miss the bus only to run into a friend who was taking a cab in the same direction as I was going and ask if I would like a free ride. And so on. More and more these fortunate unplanned coincidences popped up in my life. At the end of the month it felt like smooth sailing. I was very sceptical, but it does actually seem to work.
Brian, 46, journalist
The very best thing in all this world that can befall a man is to be born lucky.
