Picked up via Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

—Seneca

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

—Samuel Goldwyn

I tell students not to be fooled by the myth of inspiration. Handel may have written the Messiah in 3 weeks, and Faulkner may have written As I Lay Dying in eight, but this belies the hours and hours of blood, sweat, and practice, practice, practice that made enabled them to take advantage of inspiration when it came. And the average 18 year old wonders why I’m messing with their style.