No Country for Old Men Quotes
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Source: No Country for Old Men
Author: Cormac McCarthy
"You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."
Anyway, you never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from. I was too young for one war and too old for the next one. But I seen what come out of it. You can be patriotic and still believe that some things cost more than they're worth. Ask them Gold Star mothers what they paid and what they got for it. You always pay too much. Particularly for promises. There aint no such thing as a bargain promise.
Context
This line is spoken by Ellis Bell in the novel No Country for Old Men, written by Cormac McCarthy (2005).
Old men love to give advice, but sometimes they need some advice in return. So when old Sheriff Ed Tom Bell visits his even older uncle Ellis for advice, he gets this little gem of Texas wisdom: "You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."
Ellis Bell knows the pain and cost of enforcing justice because he got shot in the line of duty as a deputy sheriff and is confined to a wheelchair. He understands the violence of the area and gives a harsh dose of reality to his nephew, who is thinking about retiring from law enforcement. The badge definitely doesn't make you bulletproof.
In a book where a person's life can be lost on the bad call of a coin toss, this advice is invaluable.
Where you've heard it
You've heard a variation on this advice when you're down on your luck, but there's always something worse that could have happened to you otherwise. Basically, don't cry over spilled milk because when you're bending down to clean it, a sniper's bullet could go over your head. (Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic. But you know what we mean.)
Unfortunately, this quote didn't make its way into the Coen Brothers' 2007 film adaptation of No Country for Old Men, but Ellis (played by Texas Cowboy Hall of Famer Barry Corbin) still gets to give his nephew some sage advice about quitting law enforcement in this clip.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Talking about luck is always a little pretentious, but since this quote is technically optimistic, it offsets the pretentiousness a bit. Being a Texan over 60 will help this line go over even better.