--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A scientist ought to have a healthy…" description: "\"A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.\" — Fritz Leiber" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg" --- # A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for… ![“A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.” quote by Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg) > “A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.” [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific progress requires treating coincidences as clues, not definitive evidence, to avoid premature conclusions. **In simple terms:** Question patterns, seek underlying causes. Key Takeaway Avoid over‑valuing random events. Themes critical thinking scientific method skepticism pattern recognition epistemology Mood inquisitive analytical Type aphor observation When to use this quote - designing experiments - interpreting data - reviewing literature - forming hypotheses Key Concepts coincidence causality bias evidence Practical Applications - research methodology - data analysis Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions does a coincidence reveal? - How can you test if a pattern is meaningful? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coincidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coincidence/) [Coincidences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coincidences/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) ## Related quotes > [The job has left me with a healthy disregard for what you might call Public Life. I have no desire now to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/the-job-has-left-me-with-a-healthy-disregard-for-what-you-might-call/) [Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/) > [“We shared a healthy disregard for the overblown egos and conservative intransigence of both our professions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-sherr/we-shared-a-healthy-disregard-for-the-overblown-egos-and-conservative/) Lynn Sherr > [“My father had a healthy disregard for social conventions: he once let me paint the house windows in rainbows with my watercolor set, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-dubois/my-father-had-a-healthy-disregard-for-social-conventions-he-once-let/) [Jennifer Dubois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-dubois/) > [Sometimes life coughs up coincidences no writer of fiction would dare copy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/sometimes-life-coughs-up-coincidences-no-writer-of-fiction-would-dare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Don’t dismiss the synchronicity of what is happening right now finding its way to your life at just this moment. There are no coincidences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/don-t-dismiss-the-synchronicity-of-what-is-happening-right-now/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“There are no coincidences in life. What person that wandered in and out of your life was there for some purpose, even if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-alder/there-are-no-coincidences-in-life-what-person-that-wandered-in-and/) [Shannon Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-alder/) > [“To believe in coincidences, to believe in fate— it ties into the spiritual realm, to the idea that there is something universal out there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-mildon/to-believe-in-coincidences-to-believe-in-fate-it-ties-into-the/) [Emma Mildon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-mildon/) > [“Pure coincidence, of course, but a sensible man makes coincidences work for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/pure-coincidence-of-course-but-a-sensible-man-makes-coincidences-work/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [“They say numbers are just ordinary figures. It is, but not so when it gets to the point where they begin to synchronize and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/they-say-numbers-are-just-ordinary-figures-it-is-but-not-so-when-it/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Everything in this life has a purpose, there are no mistakes, no coincidences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/everything-in-this-life-has-a-purpose-there-are-no-mistakes-no/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [“There are no coincidences in God's providence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-woodsmall/there-are-no-coincidences-in-god-s-providence/) [Cindy Woodsmall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-woodsmall/) > [“Premonitions are coincidences waiting to happen,” he said, without looking up. “I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/premonitions-are-coincidences-waiting-to-happen-he-said-without/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [It’s amazing how many coincidences occur when one begins to pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hybels/it-s-amazing-how-many-coincidences-occur-when-one-begins-to-pray/) [Bill Hybels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hybels/) > [When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-live-your-life-with-an-appreciation-of-coincidences-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) ## More by Fritz Leiber > [“The “Howard” in the entry had to be Howard Phillips Lovecraft , that twentieth-century puritanic Poe from Providence, with his regrettable but undeniable loathing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-howard-in-the-entry-had-to-be-howard-phillips-lovecraft-that/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [What do you care? You always liked loneliness better than you liked people. No offence liking yourself's the beginning of all love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/what-do-you-care-you-always-liked-loneliness-better-than-you-liked/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Traffic growled and snarled, rising at times to a machine-gun rata-tat-tat, while pedestrians were scuttling about with that desperate ratlike urgency characteristic of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/traffic-growled-and-snarled-rising-at-times-to-a-machine-gun-rata-tat/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Certainly we’ve made important innovations, chief among them the systematic use of the scientific method,” he said at one point, “but the primitive groundwork…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/certainly-we-ve-made-important-innovations-chief-among-them-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Miss Millick wondered just what had happened to Mr. Wran. He kept making the strangest remarks when she took dictation. Just this morning he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/miss-millick-wondered-just-what-had-happened-to-mr-wran-he-kept/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Of course it had been an hallucination. But when hallucinations start behaving like realities, with a score of coincidences to back them up, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-it-had-been-an-hallucination-but-when-hallucinations-start/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Devils may be nothing but beings intent on their purpose, which now happens to collide with yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/devils-may-be-nothing-but-beings-intent-on-their-purpose-which-now/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“The Mouser made a very small parry in carte so that the thrust of the bravo from the east went past his left side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-mouser-made-a-very-small-parry-in-carte-so-that-the-thrust-of-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“It had all begun on the elevated. There was a particular little sea of roots he had grown into the habit of glancing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/it-had-all-begun-on-the-elevated-there-was-a-particular-little-sea-of/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Better freedom and a chilly road than a warm hearth and servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/better-freedom-and-a-chilly-road-than-a-warm-hearth-and-servitude/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Thoughts are dangerous, he told himself, and thoughts against all science, all sanity, all civilized intelligence, are the most dangerous of all. He felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/thoughts-are-dangerous-he-told-himself-and-thoughts-against-all/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [The dark dangerous forest is still there, my friends. Beyond the space of the astronauts and the astronomers, beyond the dark, tangled regions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-dark-dangerous-forest-is-still-there-my-friends-beyond-the-space/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Not for the first time Richard reflected that this age's vaunted 'communications industry' had chiefly provided people and nations with the means of frightening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/not-for-the-first-time-richard-reflected-that-this-age-s-vaunted/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Of course, if you assume a big enough conspiracy, you can explain anything, including the cosmos itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-if-you-assume-a-big-enough-conspiracy-you-can-explain/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [The gods spend the wealth the universe gathers, they scan the wonders and fling them to nothingness. That's why they're the gods! I told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-gods-spend-the-wealth-the-universe-gathers-they-scan-the-wonders/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) [Explore all 58 Fritz Leiber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## More Coincidence quotes > [“Symbols are miracles we have recorded into language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-kelley-harrell/symbols-are-miracles-we-have-recorded-into-language/) [S. Kelley Harrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-kelley-harrell/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [It was an odd coincidence that my career took off the same decade as having babies. I often wished it had been different, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kaczmarek/it-was-an-odd-coincidence-that-my-career-took-off-the-same-decade-as/) [Jane Kaczmarek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kaczmarek/) > [“Every emotion in the world wishes to be expressed, every task desires to be done. Coincidence is the perfect texture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-geary/every-emotion-in-the-world-wishes-to-be-expressed-every-task-desires/) [Patricia Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-geary/) > [It's not coincidence that these attacks come at the exact same moment, and all together at the same time as WikiLeaks releases documents exposing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/it-s-not-coincidence-that-these-attacks-come-at-the-exact-same-moment/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“You wonder if that really constitutes being ‘a coincidence’ but don’t press her on the issue, instead sticking your hand down your pocket to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-kerkhoven/you-wonder-if-that-really-constitutes-being-a-coincidence-but-don-t/) Rudolf Kerkhoven > [A thrumming of piano-strings beyond the gardens and through the elms. At length the melody steals into my being. I know not when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-thrumming-of-piano-strings-beyond-the-gardens-and-through-the-elms/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“We cannot see how our lives will unfold. What is destiny and What is accident? And how can one ever be certain?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-ostlere/we-cannot-see-how-our-lives-will-unfold-what-is-destiny-and-what-is/) [Cathy Ostlere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-ostlere/) > [When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-live-your-life-with-an-appreciation-of-coincidences-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s amazing how many coincidences occur when one begins to pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hybels/it-s-amazing-how-many-coincidences-occur-when-one-begins-to-pray/) [Bill Hybels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hybels/) > [“Premonitions are coincidences waiting to happen,” he said, without looking up. “I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/premonitions-are-coincidences-waiting-to-happen-he-said-without/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“A friend of mine once said that she didn't believe in coincidence, that it was God working in her life, not a coincidence every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-cameron/a-friend-of-mine-once-said-that-she-didn-t-believe-in-coincidence/) [Barbara Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-cameron/) > [Some people suggested that I should try something else. It was a lot of things, but nothing really stood out for me. Nothing felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-kim/some-people-suggested-that-i-should-try-something-else-it-was-a-lot/) [Claudia Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-kim/) [Browse all 823 Coincidence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coincidence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fritz Leiber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Coincidence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03b/fritz-leiber-11218_coincidence_a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disr_79258.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.” — Fritz Leiber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fritz Leiber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A scientist ought to have a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```