--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Humiliating to human pride as it may be…" description: "\"Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize that the advance and even the preservation of civilization are dependent upon a maximum of o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_accidents_humiliating-to-human-pride-as-it-may-be_690561.jpg" --- # Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize… ![“Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize that the advance and even the preservation of civilization are dependent upon a maximum of opportunity for accidents to happen.” quote by Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_accidents_humiliating-to-human-pride-as-it-may-be_690561.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_accidents_humiliating-to-human-pride-as-it-may-be_690561.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_accidents_humiliating-to-human-pride-as-it-may-be_690561.jpg) > “Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize that the advance and even the preservation of civilization are dependent upon a maximum of opportunity for accidents to happen.” [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civilization thrives when chance events are allowed to occur, fostering innovation and resilience. **In simple terms:** Progress depends on allowing accidents. Key Takeaway Encourage environments where unexpected events can happen. Themes innovation risk civilization progress opportunity Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research labs - startup incubators - public policy design - urban planning Key Concepts spontaneity systemic resilience creative destruction Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance safety with freedom for accidents? - What safeguards prevent harmful accidents while preserving opportunity? A Different Perspective Too much control can stifle creativity and adaptability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Accidents happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents-happen/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [Preservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preservation/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [A small house must depend on its grouping with other houses for its beauty, and for the preservation of light air and the maximum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-stein/a-small-house-must-depend-on-its-grouping-with-other-houses-for-its/) Clarence Stein > [It may indeed prove to be far the most difficult and not the least important task for human reason rationally to comprehend its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-may-indeed-prove-to-be-far-the-most-difficult-and-not-the-least/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Human envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. 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If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/having-a-large-amount-of-leverage-is-like-driving-a-car-with-a-dagger/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [“Enlightenments, like accidents, happen only to prepared minds. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/enlightenments-like-accidents-happen-only-to-prepared-minds/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Accidents happen, whether they're car accidents, friendly fire, drug overdoses. Accidents happen, and they're tragic. It's like a bomb that goes off and pieces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-belushi/accidents-happen-whether-they-re-car-accidents-friendly-fire-drug/) [James Belushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-belushi/) > [Did you ever observe to whom the accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/did-you-ever-observe-to-whom-the-accidents-happen-chance-favors-only/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [“Accidents happen. I will, um . . . I will pay to have your house rebuilt." "And my barn?" a woman called out. Liam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-healy/accidents-happen-i-will-um-i-will-pay-to-have-your-house-rebuilt-and/) [Christopher Healy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-healy/) > [I like to allow accidents to happen, not to force them, and yet not let myself feel miserable if they do happen, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-drumm/i-like-to-allow-accidents-to-happen-not-to-force-them-and-yet-not-let/) [Kevin Drumm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-drumm/) > [“The time is gone when mere accidents could still happen to me; and what could still come to me now that was not mine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-time-is-gone-when-mere-accidents-could-still-happen-to-me-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The cinema was certainly an art, but television can't be, because it is the museum of accidents. In other words, its art is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/the-cinema-was-certainly-an-art-but-television-can-t-be-because-it-is/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [Accidents happen all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accidents-happen-all-the-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Actresses will happen in the best regulated families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-herford/actresses-will-happen-in-the-best-regulated-families/) [Oliver Herford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-herford/) > [In a city where you walk around, it's impossible to plan your day and your life as accidents will happen, you'll overhear things, bump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-schwartzman/in-a-city-where-you-walk-around-it-s-impossible-to-plan-your-day-and/) [Jason Schwartzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-schwartzman/) ## More by Friedrich August von Hayek > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [By the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/by-the-time-any-view-becomes-a-majority-view-it-is-no-longer-the-best/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Freedom can be preserved only if it is treated as a supreme principle which must not be sacrificed for particular advantages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/freedom-can-be-preserved-only-if-it-is-treated-as-a-supreme-principle/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/should-our-moral-beliefs-really-prove-to-be-dependent-on-factual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now--independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-true-that-the-virtues-which-are-less-esteemed-and-practiced-now/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Unlike the rationalism of the French Revolution, true liberalism has no quarrel with religion, and I can only deplore the militant and essentially illiberal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/unlike-the-rationalism-of-the-french-revolution-true-liberalism-has/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage… Unless we can make the philosophic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-make-the-building-of-a-free-society-once-more-an-intellectual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The central problem of management is how spontaneous interaction of people within a firm, each possessing only bits of knowledge, can bring about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-central-problem-of-management-is-how-spontaneous-interaction-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The discussions of every age are filled with the issues on which its leading schools of thought differ. But the general intellectual atmosphere of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-discussions-of-every-age-are-filled-with-the-issues-on-which-its/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-nobel-prize-confers-on-an-individual-an-authority-which-in/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [ \[Socialistic\] economic planning, regulation, and intervention pave the way to totalitarianism by building a power structure that will inevitably be seized by the most… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/socialistic-economic-planning-regulation-and-intervention-pave-the/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [It is rather a problem of how to secure the best use of resources known to any of the members of society, for ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-rather-a-problem-of-how-to-secure-the-best-use-of-resources/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-identified-with-the-interests/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-face-the-fact-that-the-preservation-of-individual-freedom-is/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Human envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. It is probably one of the essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/human-envy-is-certainly-not-one-of-the-sources-of-discontent-that-a/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) [Explore all 244 Friedrich August von Hayek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## More Accidents quotes > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/i-made-out-with-a-homeless-guy-by-accident-i-had-no-idea-he-was/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) > [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/) [Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/) > [In a city where you walk around, it's impossible to plan your day and your life as accidents will happen, you'll overhear things, bump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-schwartzman/in-a-city-where-you-walk-around-it-s-impossible-to-plan-your-day-and/) [Jason Schwartzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-schwartzman/) > [I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/i-don-t-think-it-s-by-accident-that-i-was-first-attracted-to/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [Despite my mentors advice that I would never go to heaven fishing with a weighted nymph and a float, I took it up. 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