Kudos to Geoffrey Godbey for his letter “Luck factors in” (Aug. 31). Godbey is on point regarding the lack of humility, imagination and mercy in Joseph B. Filko’s Aug. 15 column, “Our successes are of our own doing.”

The column was full of hubris and self-righteousness. The overriding power of luck in human lives cannot be overstated. Many intelligent and hard-working individuals are not able to achieve success, through no fault of their own. Some who are successful have fallen into it, sometimes earned and sometimes not.

Hard work certainly enters into the equation, but it is only one factor. I have known many successful people who openly acknowledge that they were successful because of support and guidance from a multitude of people — parents, spouses, teachers, etc. — but I have yet to meet a person who did it all on his own.

Many folks have amazingly overcome problems and reached their goals; others were not so lucky. Even a man on the road to success may be derailed when his company downsizes during hard times or when he is too “mature” for appropriate employment.

Luck is often the factor that makes the difference, not the supposed superiority of the successful person.

Nancy Daly State College