Coincidence

"People are entirely too disbelieving of coincidence. They are far too ready to dismiss it and to build arcane structures of extremely rickety substance in order to avoid it. I, on the other hand, see coincidence everywhere as an inevitable consequence of the laws of probability, according to which having no unusual coincidence is far more unusual than any coincidence could possibly be."

"Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys."

"A “strange coincidence,” to use a phrase By which such things are settled nowadays."

"This is just too much of a coincidence to be coincidence."

"Of course, I’m only indulging in mankind’s vice of trying to make a symbol out of coincidence."

"“It was a coincidence.” “I don’t believe in coincidences.” “Neither do I. That’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”"

"My liveliest interest is not so much in things, as in relations of things. I have spent much time thinking about the alleged pseudo-relations that are called coincidences. What if some of them should not be coincidences? My liveliest interest is not so much in things, as in relations of things. I have spent much time thinking about the alleged pseudo-relations that are called coincidences. What if some of them should not be coincidences?"

"By the laws of statistics we could probably approximate just how unlikely it is that it would happen. But people forget—especially those who ought to know better, such as yourself—that while the laws of statistics tell you how unlikely a particular coincidence is, they state just as firmly that coincidences do happen."

"Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which — miraculously, it seems — merge into a significant event."

"Coincidence is a pimp and a cardsharper in ordinary fiction but a marvelous artist in the patterns of facts recollected by a non-ordinary memorist."

"If Tom had learned anything, it was that you can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple Earthly event. Coincidence, that's all anything ever is. Nothing more, than coincidence. Tom had finally learned there are no miracles, there is no such thing as fate, nothing is meant to be. He knew, he was sure of it now. Tom was.. he was pretty sure."

"Most coincidences are simply chance events that turn out to be far more probable than many people imagine."

"It is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune takes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences should spontaneously occur."

"The First Insight occurs when we become conscious of the coincidences in our lives... Coincidences are happening more and more frequently and that, when they do, they strike us as beyond what would be expected by pure chance... They feel destined, as though our lives had been guided by some unexplained force. The experience induces a feeling of mystery and excitement and, as a result, we feel more alive.... More people every day are convinced that this mysterious movement is real and that it means something, that something else is going on beneath everyday life. This awareness is the First Insight... a reconsideration of the inherent mystery that surrounds our individual lives on this planet. We are experiencing these mysterious coincidences, and even though we don't understand them yet, we know they are real. We are sensing again, as in childhood, that there is another side of life that we have yet to discover, some other process operating behind the scenes. p. 8"

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

"The laws of probability not only permit coincidences; they absolutely insist on them."

"In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted."

"I have told you before there is no escaping the nature of the universe. it is that nature that has again brought you to me. Where some see 'coincidence', I see 'consequence'. Where others see 'chance', I see 'cost'."

"“Fifty-nine,” Mr. Mowen said. “That’s too many coincidences to just be a coincidence.”"