I know that phrase is about crime, but something about it has always struck me as a fascinating view into how people treat the things they want to do in general (legal or not).
Opportunity comes last. When people are talking about this as a formula for crime, the point is that the opportunity to commit the act had to come after the person already had the means and the motive. But when talking about non-criminal activities, people seem to think that if only the opportunity to do something great would suddenly appear, they’d instantly develop the means and the motivation at that very moment. Surely the opportunity would not be wasted!
If you want opportunities not to be wasted, then you can’t let the fact that there might not be an opportunity in front of your face right this very second stop you from developing the means and fostering the motivation to take advantage of it when it does.
The Opportunity Machine 