Entrepreneurship is all about seizing opportunity and making the most of it. But sometimes, opportunities come in unexpected packages, and you have to be quick on your feet to take advantage of them. As the old saying goes, “the irony of life is that we often get what we don’t want because we don’t want it.” It’s a reminder that even when things seem to be going wrong, there’s usually something to be learned from the experience. In today’s blog post, we’re compiling some of our favorite irony quotes to help you stay positive during challenging times.

The best irony quotes

1. Neither irony or sarcasm is argument. — Samuel Butler

2. Irony is a qualification of subjectivity. — Soren Kierkegaard

3. You know the great irony is that people think you have to have money to enjoy fine food, which is a shame. — Ted Allen

4. The irony of taking Anti Depressants: you take them to feel good but they also make you feel bad or worse because you worry about your purse. — Mico Monsalve

5. She looks like a woman who has found it ridiculous to commit herself to a single emotional stance in anything, but must always ride high heavy irony. — Sylvia Plath

6. Within that moment was trust, compassion, and our mutual sense of irony. He was carrying death within him and I was carrying life. We were both aware of that, I know. — Patti Smith

7. I think there is irony in the fact that the computer is both their chief venue of communication and propaganda and also the mother of all their fears. — Mark Potok

8. Irony is the word I forget the meaning of immediately after I look it up, but I kind of feel like I live in a constant state of it. — Maureen Johnson, The Bermudez Triangle

9. Could the word ‘iron’ be the root from which ‘irony’ is derived? — Victor Hugo

10. Could the word ‘iron’ be the root from which ‘irony’ is derived? — Victor Hugo

11. The presence of irony does not necessarily mean that the earnestness is excluded. Only assistant professors assume that. — Soren Kierkegaard

12. Corporate irony — you will seen the best of machines and worst of people ever.

13. I came to understand the most intriguing irony of life, that the most intimate partner of life is death. (Page 94) — Neena Verma, A Mother’s Cry… A Mother’s Celebration

14. You know the great irony is that people think you have to have money to enjoy fine food, which is a shame. — Ted Allen

15. Irony, we want our handwriting to look like typed fonts, and our computer fonts to look like handwritten text. — Vikrmn, Corpkshetra

16. The irony of it all, Pinky. Years of trying to take over the world, and all I had to do was say ‘moo”. — The Brain

17. Fundamental belief consoled him for superficial irony. — Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge

18. Neither irony nor sarcasm is argument. — Rufus Choate

19. The newly–minted captain admits the irony between the gold on his shoulders and the lack of gold in his pockets. — Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander

20. The presence of irony does not necessarily mean that the earnestness is excluded. Only assistant professors assume that. — Soren Kierkegaard

21. The irony of life: Realizing a lifetime is barely long enough to figure out how it should have been lived. — Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

22. The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony, that capacity to discover and systematize ideas. — Ralph Ellison

23. The presence of irony does not necessarily mean that the earnestness is excluded. Only assistant professors assume that. — Soren Kierkegaard

24. The irony about selling out is that they only call you a sell–out when your stuff finally sells–I’ve had products bearing my name since I was 14, but nobody was buying them then. — Tony Hawk

25. The irony of taking Anti Depressants: you take them to feel good but they also make you feel bad or worse because you worry about your purse. — Mico Monsalve

26. ‘would you like me to [kill you] now?” asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. ”Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?’ — J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

27. Could the word ‘iron’ be the root from which ‘irony’ is derived? — Victor Hugo

28. The tragic irony in all of this is that when we focus so strongly on our need to get better, we actually get worse. — Tullian Tchividjian

29. ‘i’m sucking on a cancer stick trying to think of something inspiring to say to help someone have a better life. That’s ”Irony”.’ — Stanley Victor Paskavich

30. The irony of the human condition is that it is the narrow gate to life. Few find it because they are too fearful to look — RJ Blizzard

31. And now none of it could be undone. That was the exquisite irony: the act that had undone everything could not itself be undone. — Paul Russell, The Coming Storm

32. History often provides a lens through which irony comes into focus. — Ted Koppel

33. Within that moment was trust, compassion, and our mutual sense of irony. He was carrying death within him and I was carrying life. We were both aware of that, I know. — Patti Smith

34. The newly–minted captain admits the irony between the gold on his shoulders and the lack of gold in his pockets. — Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander

35. Whoever named Himmel Street certainly had a healthy sense of irony. Not that is was a living hell. It wasn’t. But is sure as hell wasn’t heaven, either. — Markus Zusak

36. Irony: While we increasingly hold people more responsible if they drink and drive, we hold women less responsible if they drink and have sex. — Warren Farrell

37. Neither irony nor sarcasm is argument. — Rufus Choate

38. I couldn’t have done 16 months of deployment without a sense of irony. N — Patrick Hennessey, The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time And Fighting Wars

39. Within that moment was trust, compassion, and our mutual sense of irony. He was carrying death within him and I was carrying life. We were both aware of that, I know. — Patti Smith

40. ‘there’s something terribly weird about the standard fantasy setting––not least of which the fact the phrase ”standard fantasy setting” can be uttered without irony.’ — Yahtzee Croshaw

41. There are people who are dancing through Life and others who are crying through Life. The irony is that Life is the same–what we do is purely our Choice. — RVM

42. The irony of life: Realizing a lifetime is barely long enough to figure out how it should have been lived. — Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

43. I think there is irony in the fact that the computer is both their chief venue of communication and propaganda and also the mother of all their fears. — Mark Potok

44. I am someone who takes everything very literally. I simply do not understand irony, a defect I have had ever since I was able to think independently. — Werner Herzog

45. Irony — we want to dance like robots and want robots to dance like us.

46. Irony is a qualification of subjectivity. — Soren Kierkegaard

47. Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled my energies and drove me in new directions. — E. O. Wilson

48. Greatest irony of life is living in self glory while glorifying God which is the ultimate joy is left behind. — indonesia123

49. Irony is Fate’s most common figure of speech. — Trevanian, Shibumi

50. The presence of irony does not necessarily mean that the earnestness is excluded. Only assistant professors assume that. — Soren Kierkegaard

Conclusion

No matter how much we try to understand irony, it will always remain a mysterious concept. In the end, it is up to us to interpret it, and to make the best of it. After all, as Mark Twain said, “Irony is wasted on the stupid.” So, let us ponder it and explore its depths, so that we can all appreciate its beauty and its power.