“Any endeavor has unintended consequences. Any ill-conceived endeavor has more.” — Stephen Tobolowsky Copy Share Image
“The law of unintended consequences rules, often with deadly silence.” — Richard B. McKenzie Copy Share Image
The law of unintended consequences is the only real law of history. — Niall Ferguson Copy Share Image
He is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention — Adam Smith Copy Share Image
“Micromanagement could have unintended consequences. Instead of getting people in line, it may cause them to leave.” — Diane Polnow Copy Share Image
It sometimes seems to me that the whole course of English history was one of accident, confusion, chance and unintended consequences -… — Peter Ackroyd Copy Share Image
It is...highly probable that from the very beginning, apart from death, the only ironclad rule of human experience has been the Law… — Ian Tattersall Copy Share Image
Unintended consequences, he thought miserably. He was angry at his anger, the way it surged up and took over. — Jeanne DuPrau Copy Share Image
“When scientists underestimate complexity, they fall prey to the perils of unintended consequences.” — Siddhartha Mukherjee Copy Share Image
It is not enough to simply dismiss policy, because it's too complicated or we're scared about what the unintended consequences might be. — Michelle Wu Copy Share Image
The A.M.T. is much reviled by tax experts across the political spectrum for its unintended consequences and fiendish complexity. — James B. Stewart Copy Share Image
“as per the law of unintended consequences, no matter what people’s intention when they do something, they rarely know what the ultimate… — James Wallman Copy Share Image
“5. Search for Leverage Points and Potential Unintended Consequences of Interventions—When a model produces dynamic behavior like the real system, start to… — Rich Jolly Copy Share Image
But HBO is less interested in how many people are watching than in how much the people who are watching are liking… — Aaron Sorkin Copy Share Image
Most of us tend to be swayed by what we read. Judges are not superhuman. They, too, are mortals. This is why… — Kapil Sibal Copy Share Image
I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid that Iraq is going to turn out to be the greatest disaster in American… — Madeleine Albright Copy Share Image
One of the strangest unintended consequences of abortion, of legalized abortion, was that it drives the crime rate down because what abortion… — Stephen J. Dubner Copy Share Image
The flow of action continually produces consequences which are unintended by actors, and these unintended consequences also may form unacknowledged conditions of… — Anthony Giddens Copy Share Image
With a lot of either unintended consequences or consequences that were hidden. The National Organization for Women and what I would call… — James Dobson Copy Share Image
There is a real danger of unintended consequences, of encouraging people to give up. Pessimism, if it becomes a habit, can reinforce… — David Grinspoon Copy Share Image
“Wealthy societies, for reasons largely well-intentioned but now producing unintended consequences, are making it easier for their teens to avoid the rigors… — Ben Sasse Copy Share Image
We often say that someone has exceptional political or social savvy, but what specific cognitive skills allow these people to handle interpersonal… — Justin Menkes Copy Share Image
“The Volstead Act, prohibiting the production, sale, and transport of “intoxicating liquors,” became law on January 17, 1920. Prohibition didn’t prohibit much,… — Sarah Churchwell Copy Share Image
The term blowback, which officials of the Central Intelligent Agency first invented for their own internal use, . . . refers to… — Chalmers Johnson Copy Share Image
“The Republican Party's gerrymandering efforts were also having unintended consequences. For years the party had poured resources into state legislatures in order… — Mark Lilla Copy Share Image
It's not in the mainstream media yet, but the biggest jump in skin cancer has occurred since the advent of sunscreens. That… — George Carlin Copy Share Image
“There is always a price to pay when energy is processed; there is no free lunch. Because energy underlies the transformation and… — Geoffrey West Copy Share Image
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure” is a maxim that is taught and believed by many in both the business and… — Ed Catmull Copy Share Image
“What I saw in Washington that October were a lot of Americans who were genuinely dismayed by what their country was doing… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“In many respects, Barack Obama’s neo-socialism is neoconservatism’s mirror image. Openly committed to ending the Reagan era, Obama is a firm believer… — Jonah Goldberg Copy Share Image
“We cannot ignore the meaning of mad cow. It is one more warning about unintended consequences, about human arrogance and the blind… — Eric Schlosser Copy Share Image
I do think that I have a better sense of how military action can result in unintended consequences. — Barack Obama Copy Share Image
My experience in government is there is a whole host of unintended consequences you have to think through. I can't un-know that,… — Jo Swinson Copy Share Image
Politics is tricky; it cuts both ways. Every time you make a choice, it has unintended consequences. — Stone Gossard Copy Share Image
If you know the unintended consequences of your acts, you are in a better position to take a decision. — Tasneem Hameed Copy Share Image
“The whole world is now one vast uncontrolled experiment - the way it always was, Crake would have said - and the… — Margaret Atwood Copy Share Image
Every government intervention [in the marketplace] creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Probably the most visible example of unintended consequences, is what happens every time humans try to change the natural ecology of a… — Margaret J. Wheatley Copy Share Image
Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal… — Viktor E. Frankl Copy Share Image