Ten Quotes on Coincidences

A coincidence is "a sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged," according to the FreeDictionary. I've had so many in my life that I have lost count of them. Since I'm not a habitual note-taker or a diary-keeper, it will take me really serious effort to recall all those.

But I am suddenly conscious again about coincidences precisely because of several recent developments in my life that are so uncanny in terms of context, timing and significance, relative to what I am planning for my next career shift. I have not blogged here for two weeks now precisely because I've been busy with activities that will lead to my next "incarnation," this time as an entrepreneur. Join me as I explore further the nature of COINCIDENCES, as other people viewed or experienced it:

In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen. -William S. Burroughs

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A coincidence is a small miracle in which God chooses to remain anonymous. -Unknown

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Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys. -Emma Bull

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Coincidences are spiritual puns. -G.K. Chesterton

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There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

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If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you've just proven a natural law. -Grace Murray Hopper

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If there were no such thing as coincidence, there would be no such word. -Heron Carvic

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Coincidence, if traced far enough back, becomes inevitable. -Hineu

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Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. -Albert Einstein

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Consciousness itself is an infinite regress. This explains coincidences. -Robert Anton Wilson

(Photo credit: www.sxc.hu)

Quotes From "There Are No Accidents"

All it took was one quick look at this book’s title on December 21, 1998 for me to snatch a cellophane wrapped copy from its shelf. No browsing before paying. I promptly cut short my Christmas shopping, nay, cramming, to order a short Cappucino so I can sit comfortably at a cozy corner in Figaro and start reading Robert Hopcke. I’m a sucker for synchronicity stories as my regular visitors may have noticed by now. Actually, I use these documented stories and what their authors say about them to check on the meaning/s of the many “accidents” and coincidences that I also encounter in my own life.
See what lessons I learned from this book:

On “Coincidence”:

“The moment such a coincidence occurs we know something quite important, something very meaningful, is happening to us.”

On “Life”:

“…our lives have a narrative structure, like that of novels, and at those moments we call synchronistic this structure is brought to our awareness in a way that has a significant impact on our lives.”

On “Synchronistic Coincidence”:

“It is the meaningfulness of such chance events which makes a synchronistic coincidence different from other sorts of coincidences.”

On “Four Features of Synchronicity”:

“First, such events are acausally connected…Second, such events always occur with an accompaniment of deep emotional experience…Third, the content of the synchronistic experience, what the event actually is, is always symbolic in nature…and…fourth…such coincidences occur at points of important transitions in our life. A synchronistic event very often becomes a turning point in the stories of our lives.”

On “Love”:

“Love between two people is…fundamentally a coincidence, two lives crossing by chance…”

On “Hallmark of Synchronicity”:

“One of the hallmarks of a synchronistic event is that it is always unique and unrepeatable, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

On “True Love”:

“When we think about how rare true love is, about how unlikely it is that, among the many millions of people we encounter in the course of a lifetime, we manage to meet those few people who fit us so well, it becomes obvious how much chance figures into whom we choose as partners, lovers, and friends.”

On “Love and Friendship”:

“Many of the synchronicities in love and friendship have to do with meeting the right person at the right time and in the right circumstances.”

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“…many wise people have considered a true friend more valuable than a hundred lovers.”

On “Confirmatory Synchronicities”:

“…confirmatory synchronicities…serve to assure us that we are meant to be with the person we are with and often form an integral part of the love story we live.”

On “Timing”:

“…no laundry list of characteristics can provide for a satisfying relationship unless the timing is right.”

-Robert Hopcke

Quotes From "The Spontaneous Fulfillment Of Desire"...Part 1

I bought "The Spontaneous Fulfillment Of Desire" also on a February (2005) so, maybe, I should feature the lessons that I learned from this book today. At that time, this was (and still is) a must-have book for me for two reasons. It is a book on coincidences, which topic I continue to adore, and it is a book by Deepak Chopra, one of the contemporary spiritual thinkers whose writings strike a harmonic chord with what I believe in. This is the fourth volume authored by him in my personal collection. Read on...

On Coincidences:

"I do not believe in meaningless coincidences. I believe every coincidence is a message, a clue about a particular facet of our lives that requires our attention."

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"The coincidences or little miracles that happen every day of your life are hints that the universe has much bigger plans for you than you ever dreamed of for yourself."

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"The more attention you give to coincidences, the more likely they are to appear, which means you begin to gain greater and greater access to the messages being sent to you about the path and direction of your life."

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"Notice the coincidences in your life. Coincidences are messages. They are clues from God or spirit or nonlocal reality, urging you to break out of your karmic conditioning, your familiar patterns of thinking."

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"A coincidence is a clue to the intention of the universal spirit, and as such it is rich with significance."

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"...I believe 'meaningful coincidence' is redundant because every coincidence is meaningful, otherwise it would not happen in the first place."

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"The meaning does not come from the coincidence itself. It comes from you, the person who is having the experience."

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"Nothing--absolutely nothing--would exist were it not for a remarkable set of coincidences."

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"...the more attention you put on coincidences, the more you attract other coincidences, which will help you clarify their meaning."

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"People who are sensitive to events and stimuli around them will be sensitive to coincidences sent from the universe."

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"The most powerful and unusual stimuli will naturally draw your attention. Those are the things in your environment you need to look at most closely. And the more unlikely the coincidence, the more potent the clue."

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"When a coincidence arises, don't ignore it. Ask yourself, What is the message here? What is the significance of this?"

--Deepak Chopra