From: Star Wars (specifically Episode IV)
Genre: Movies
Who said it?: Obi-Wan Kenobi
The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from, what else, Star Wars. Specifically, it comes from Episode IV, the first film in the film franchise. Honestly, do I even have to tell you what Star Wars is now?
The quote comes from the middle of the film. Luke Skywalker is performing lightsaber training but fails. Obi-Wan Kenobi tells him that he’s relying too much on his eyes and should just give in to the Force. The old Jedi Master puts a helmet on Luke to cover his eyes. When he successfully deflects the laser blasts from the drone, Han Solo, who had been watching the entire event, calls it luck. This is when Obi-Wan delivers the quote.
Geek wisdom: There is indeed randomness in the world, both good and bad. Events will happen without notice and all of a sudden. It’s what we do with these moments that will determine our “luck” though. Do we take them as opportunities or as hurdles?
We make our own luck most of the time.
I actually disagree with this take. The Jedi are metaphysical sages, and are aware of the patters that bind us all together, which others are oblivious to, and mistake for randomness.
I am okay with your answer. I just wanted to put some “geek wisdom” for the non-Jedi out there.
I stumbled upon your blog today when I was looking up the “strange game” quote from “Wargames.” I ended up reading through a few entries and liked the quotes and your ideas on them. But I have to respectfully disagree with this quote. There are things that happen to us beyond our control that can have a significant impact on our lives. Sure, we can and should try to make the best of bad situations (which sometimes can actually be blessings in disguise or at least have silver linings). But, sometimes, no matter how much we try, there are some things that can’t be entirely overcome. They will sometimes prevent us from achieving what we wanted to accomplish. We didn’t choose our bad luck in these situations.