The history of human knowledge has so uninterruptedly…
““The history of human knowledge has so uninterruptedly shown that to collateral, or incidental, or accidental events we are indebted for the most numerous and most valuable discoveries, that it has at length become necessary, in any prospective view of improvement, to make not only large, but the largest allowances for inventions that shall arise by chance, and quite out of the range of ordinary expectation. It is no longer philosophical to base, upon what has been, a vision of what is to be. Accident is admitted as a portion of the substructure. We make chance a matter of absolute calculation. We subject the unlooked for and unimagined, to the mathematical formulae of the schools.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Chance events drive many significant discoveries, so we should plan for unexpected breakthroughs alongside deliberate efforts.
In simple terms: Unexpected events lead to breakthroughs; plan for them.
Key Takeaway
Embrace uncertainty in innovation.
Themes
innovation
uncertainty
discovery
planning
Mood
curious
optimistic
analytical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- research labs
- entrepreneurship
- product development
- policy making
Key Concepts
Serendipity
probability
creative thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you balance structured planning with openness to serendipity?
- What mechanisms can capture unexpected ideas?
A Different Perspective
Relying too much on chance can neglect systematic progress.