50 Serendipity Quotes About Life’s Surprises

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published February 20, 2023

Serendipity quotes are motivational and inspiring in a variety of ways.

Therefore, these quotes are rather famous.

If you want to read and share the best serendipity quotes, look at our compilation here.

Besides, we have also discussed serendipity and the ways to harness the power of serendipity.

So, let’s start!

What is Serendipity?

We refer to serendipity as among the most famous words associated with the English language.

It is hard to translate this word, as it has different meanings at varying instances.

Regarding our day-to-day conversation, serendipity is linked to luck, chance, or providence.

Ways to Harness the Serendipity

Serendipity also seeks an advantage from scarcity, which forces people to be creative.

However, any attempt to dictate serendipity is impractical or stifling.

There is a strong relationship between creativity and serendipity.

Serendipity has also played a vital role in medicine.

A few of the most notable discoveries or inventions in this field are the fruits of serendipity, including:

Aspirin
Insulin Penicillin
Antihistamines
Smallpox vaccine

However, to some extent, it is possible to harness serendipity’s power.

Here are some ways to achieve this goal:

Change your daily routine
Find new things around you
Stay away from your mobile for sometime

Change your Daily Routine

Changing your daily routine can help you draw more out of your serendipity.

For instance, if you go to the office by car, just leave your car at home and travel by bus or train.

This change in pace increases the chances of absorbing new energies and new chances.

Find New Things Around you

When you travel, try to look around you and find new things.

For instance, you can read the billboards or note what others are reading.

By doing so, it will amaze you to see that there are a lot of things that are passed unnoticed.

Hence, chances are you will stumble upon something interesting and beneficial.

Stay away from your Mobile for Sometime

Believe it or not, you can experience serendipity by simply disconnecting yourself from your mobile.

This is just because opening yourself to encounters is the most prominent condition of serendipity.

If you stay glued to your mobile, the chances of noticing something new or unexpected would be rare.

Top 10 Serendipity Quotes

Here is the list of the top 10 serendipity quotes.

1. “I just like the word ‘serendipity.’” ― Noah Centineo

2. “Serendipity favors the believing.” ― Krystl Campos

3. “Serendipity always rewards the prepared.” ― Katori Hall

4. “A lot of it just has to do with luck, serendipity.” ― Emanuel Ax

5. “I always leave room for serendipity and chance.” ― Ken Stott

6. “Sometimes serendipity is just intention unmasked.” ― Elizabeth Berg

7. “There is a fine line between serendipity and stalking.” ― David Coleman

8. “What people call serendipity sometimes is just having your eyes open.” ― Jose Manuel Barroso

9. “Fact is, inventing an innovative business model is often mostly a matter of serendipity.” ― Gary Hamel

10. “I have never chosen my next job. I focus on what’s in front of me, and serendipity steps in.” ― Susan Brooks

Illustrative Serendipity Quotes

Let’s look closer at the illustration of serendipity as expressed by some extraordinary minds.

11. “Serendipity is the art of making an unsought finding.” ― Pek Van Andel

12. “Serendipity is looking in a haystack for a needle and discovering a farmer’s daughter.” ― Julius Comroe Jr.

13. “Sometimes life drops blessings in your lap without your lifting a finger. Serendipity, they call it.” ― Charlton Heston

14. “Serendipity, it is one of my favorite words. It is such a nice sound for what it means, a fortunate accident.” ― Sara Thomas

15. “One aspect of serendipity to bear in mind is that you have to be looking for something in order to find something else.” ― Lawrence Block

16. “Serendipity is finding something you were not looking for because finding something you were looking for is so difficult.” ― Erin McKean

17. “Serendipity is putting a quarter in the gumball machine and having three pieces come rattling out instead of one all red.” ― Tobi Tobias

18. “Engineering serendipity is this idea that we can help people come across unexpected but helpful connections at a better than random rate.” ― Ethan Zuckerman

19. “I’’ve always had this incredible sense of urgency. I’ve always had this desire not to let things fester and to really seize the moment because it’s serendipity.” ― Sergio Marchionne

20. “When I wrote the lyrics, melodies, and the first themes of ‘Serendipity,’ I tried to come up with some rare things you find in life, something very special, like the calico, three-striped cat; things that have extraordinary meanings in people’s lives.” ― RM

Serendipity Quotes about Discoveries

The falling of the apple on Newton’s head was pure serendipity.

Most inventions and discoveries we see today were accidents that turned out to be serendipity.

21. “There’ll always be serendipity involved in the discovery.” ― Jeff Bezos

22. “The history of discovery is full of creative serendipity.” ― Tom Kelley

23. “Innovation is serendipity, so you don’t know what people will make.” ― Tim Berners-Lee

24. “Most discoveries even today are a combination of serendipity and of searching.” ― Siddhartha Mukherjee

25. “Synergy and serendipity often play a big part in medical and scientific advances.” ― Julie Bishop

26. “The thing that makes writing so difficult is you don’t have the element of serendipity.” ― Sally Mann

27. “I spent a lot of time on the recce. It is a kind of creative chaos, but I like the sense of creative serendipity.” ― Tony Harrison

28. “Some of the greatest things, as I understand, they have come about by serendipity, the greatest discoveries.” ― Alan Alda

29. “The medicines of today are based upon thousands of years of knowledge accumulated from folklore, serendipity, and scientific discovery.” ― John Vane

30. “Sometimes a mistake is the only way of arriving at an original concept, and the history of successful inventions is full of mishaps, serendipity, and unintended results.” ― Shaun Tan

Magical Serendipity Quotes

Serendipity occurs in the most magical ways and performs the most incredible miracles.

31. “With a library, it is easier to hope for serendipity than to look for a precise answer.” ― Lemony Snicket

32. “My career has been a level of serendipity all along. I’ve never planned anything out more than a few years.” ― Paul Polman

33. “I had aspirations to do different things with my life. I wanted to play soccer. I wanted to be a lawyer. Serendipity.” ― Pete Wentz

34. “I’ve always loved life, and I’ve never known what’s ahead. I love not knowing what might be round the corner. I love serendipity.” ― Twiggy

35. “I’ve been truly blessed. I’ve been a fly on the wall of history. I’ve been just so many lucky places just by chance and serendipity.” ― Arthur Laffer

Serendipity quotes to inspire you

36. “With a modest amount of looks and talent, and more than a modicum of serendipity, I’ve managed to stretch my 15 minutes of fame into 50 years of good fortune.” ― Robert Vaughn

37. “When I was 26 or 27, I gave up journalism. I came to England after my mom died to let serendipity take its course. And I just found myself back in journalism again.” ― Heather Brooke

38. “I had the serendipity of modeling during a temporary interlude between Twiggy and Kate Moss when it was actually okay for women to look as if we ate and enjoyed life.” ― Cybill Shepherd

39. “Crazy as it sounds, I’m a believer in destiny and serendipity, and I have had cosmic experiences all my life. Something told me I was meant for greater stuff. And look, I’ve had a baby! And I’ve written an opera!” ― Rufus Wainwright

40. “I admit that I am hopelessly hooked on the printed newspaper. I love turning the pages and the serendipity of stumbling across a piece of irresistible information or a photograph that I wasn’t necessarily intending to read.” ― Jill Abramson

Intellectual Serendipity Quotes

Relying solely on serendipity and not making efforts at all is doubtlessly a fool’s play.

41. “To unlock your creativity, start by clearing space in your schedule for rest, daydreaming, and serendipity.” ― Carl Honore

42. “There’s always going to be circumstances you can’t plan for. There’s always the unexpected relevance and the serendipity.” ― Jason Silva

43. “In reality, serendipity accounts for one percent of the blessings we receive in life, work, and love. The other 99 percent is due to our efforts.” ― Peter McWilliams

44. “Vital lives are about action. You can’t feel warmth unless you create it, can’t feel delighted until you play, can’t know serendipity unless you risk.” ― Joan Erickson

45. “Politics is a lot of serendipity. You’re in the right place and the right time, and you’ve got the right message, and it either connects for you, or it doesn’t.” ― Jon Huntsman, Jr.

Ponder these serendipity quotes

46. “Politics is so much about serendipity that we’ve got to have a bigger pool of women so that when people drop out of the process, you’ve got others to turn to.” ― Eleanor Clift

47. “Serendipity is nice, but hoping for luck and the magic of happenstance shouldn’t be an excuse for lack of proactivity. I had to learn for myself that waiting isn’t a life plan.” ― Karen Finerman

48. “You know, being relevant or coming up with something interesting, funny to say about what’s current is just as hard as it might ever be depending on the serendipity of it all.” ― Lily Tomlin

49. “Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy. Without risk, nothing new ever happens. Without trust, fear creeps in. Without serendipity, there are no surprises.” ― Rita Golden Gelman

50. “Most of us work so hard and live so hard. On the first day of the holiday, I remain in work gear; it can take me some time to slow down, and all that time, I’m missing the serendipity of the wonderful things that are all around us.” ― Tony Robinson