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Things Happen Quotes

Some things happen; others are made to.

This collection separates things that simply happen, like good encounters with strangers, from things people actively make happen through effort and intent. Related themes on shifting circumstances appear in Change.

Things happen in weird, serendipitous ways.

Quotes by Jon M. Chu

I've always been sort of interested in the rural countryside. Things happen out there that are very strange to city dwellers.

Quotes by John Sandford

Two things happen when you're fearful. First, you make seemingly rational decisions that are actually hedges. Or second, you fail to do something because you worry about the consequences.

Quotes by John Landgraf

Freaky things happen all the time in the world. I suppose everything has to happen for the first time at some point.

Quotes by John Jeremiah Sullivan

I'd far rather talk about players. They are the people who make things happen.

Quotes by Jock Stein

I feel that things happen for a reason and open up new opportunities.

Quotes by Jil Sander

It's very rare to watch a movie and think, 'That's the movie we shot!' So many things happen, with edits and things getting cut out.

Quotes by Jessica Rothe

Great things happen in small places. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesse Jackson was born in Greenville.

Quotes by Jesse Jackson

You look at anything I've been a part of, it's when the laboring, the fatigue, when some of those things happen, that's what shows what you're going to be.

Quotes by Jerry Jones

My experience of life is that it's very fragmented; certain kinds of things happen, and in another place, a different kind of thing occurs. I would like my work to have some vivid indication of those differences.

Quotes by Jasper Johns

I do like the whole idea of going to a location to shoot a movie, and there is a start date and a finish date, and a lot of special things happen within those weeks.

Quotes by Jane Levy

When you're the lead of a series, things happen around you, and you react to them.

Quotes by James Van Der Beek

If you're not ready the moment things happen, then you're irrelevant, you might as well not go.

Quotes by James F. Amos

There's Catholic guilt about things, then there's the guilt of being the youngest of 10, so when nice things happen to you, you're not really allowed to enjoy them.

Quotes by Jack White

Going back into the history of a word, very often into Latin, we come back pretty commonly to pictures or models of how things happen or are done.

Quotes by J. L. Austin

Things happen for a reason, and in their own time.

Quotes by Idina Menzel

I've never read a political poem that's accomplished anything. Poetry makes things happen, but rarely what the poet wants.

Quotes by Howard Nemerov

Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.

Quotes by Horace Mann

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.

Quotes by Herodotus

It was a stroke of luck that there were about four to six leaders in power in the mid-'80s who really trusted one another and could really make things happen.

Quotes by Helmut Kohl

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is this Things Happen quotes collection about?
It covers the phrase across very different contexts, from a TV crime drama's reassuring formula to meeting strangers to women who actively create change rather than waiting for it, plus a note on managing unexpected issues within a large organization. The common thread is how much of life unfolds through events people didn't fully plan. It's a page with both lighthearted and thoughtful entries.
Why do people search for things happen quotes?
Things happen quotes appeal to readers thinking about chance, agency, and accountability - whether events just occur or whether someone actively causes them. That tension runs through the whole collection. Related themes appear in our Change and Reality quotes.
What does the quote about meeting strangers mean?
It's a simple, optimistic observation that good things happen when you meet strangers, treating openness to new people as a source of positive outcomes.
Is there a quote about women who make things happen?
Yes - one distinguishes between women who make things better, change things, and make things happen, expressing a personal wish to be counted among those who actively create difference rather than passively observe it.
Does this collection mention accountability in a large organization?
Yes - one quote reflects on managing an administration with around 2 million employees, acknowledging that things happen and that procedures exist to ensure appropriate consequences follow any wrongdoing. It's presented as a general statement about oversight and process, without taking a side on any specific incident. For related themes, see our Acceptance quotes.

One entry reflects on accountability across a large organization, noting that consequences follow when things go wrong. Continue with Acceptance or Flow.