The massive gates of circumstance
Are turned upon the smallest hinge,
And thus some seeming pettiest chance
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The massive gates of circumstance
Are turned upon the smallest hinge,
And thus some seeming pettiest chance
Oft gives our life its after-tinge.
The trifles of our daily lives,
The common things, scarce worth recall,
Whereof no visible trace survives,
These are the mainsprings after all.

The happy combination of fortuitous circumstances.

The happy combination of fortuitous circumstances.

Circumstances beyond my individual control.

Circumstances beyond my individual control.

I am the very slave of circumstance
And impulse--borne away with every breath.

I am the very slave of circumstance
And impulse--borne away with every breath.

Men are the sport of circumstances, when
The circumstances seem the sport of men.

Men are the sport of circumstances, when
The circumstances seem the sport of men.

And circumstance, that unspiritual god,
And miscreator, makes and helps along
Our coming evils, with a critch-like read more

And circumstance, that unspiritual god,
And miscreator, makes and helps along
Our coming evils, with a critch-like rod,
Whose touch turns hope to dust--the dust we all have trod.

The long arm of coincidence.

The long arm of coincidence.

To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and
convenience of our lives.

To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and
convenience of our lives.

It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are.

It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are.