Coleman Cox

Early-20th-century American epigrammatist and businessman, San Francisco

Coleman Cox was an American businessman and epigrammatist active in the early 20th century, known for self-published booklets of pithy maxims. His 1922 collection Listen to This is the earliest documented home of this now-famous line about luck and hard work. As the aphorism spread, his name fell away and grander figures — Jefferson, Leacock, Goldwyn — were substituted in his place.

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“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”

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