English Quote by David Foster Wallace
![“This was in [Orwell's] 1946 'Politics and the English Language,' an essay that despite its date (and its title's basic redundancy) remains the definitive SNOOT statement on Academese. Orwell's famous AE translation of the gorgeous 'I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift' in…” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d3a/david-foster-wallace-161_english_this-was-in-orwell-s-1946-politics-and-t_922979.jpg)
““This was in [Orwell's] 1946 'Politics and the English Language,' an essay that despite its date (and its title's basic redundancy) remains the definitive SNOOT statement on Academese. Orwell's famous AE translation of the gorgeous 'I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift' in Ecclesiastes as 'Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account' should be tattooed on the left wrist of every grad student in the anglophone world.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Politics and the English Language, 1946
Success in competition often depends more on chance than innate ability, challenging the belief that skill alone determines outcomes.
In simple terms: Luck matters as much as skill.
Key Takeaway
Expect the unexpected in competitive fields.
Themes
chance
skill
inequality
competition
uncertainty
Mood
skeptical
reflective
Type
philosophical
critical
When to use this quote
- academic lectures
- student workshops
- career planning
- research discussions
Key Concepts
Statistical variance
meritocracy myth
randomness
performance evaluation
Questions to Reflect On
- Can randomness be mitigated by hard work?
- How do we recognize true merit?
A Different Perspective
It may underplay the role of effort and preparation.
