--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Accidents will happen in the best…" description: "\"Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.\" — John Dos Passos" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg" --- # Accidents will happen in the best regulated families. ![“Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.” quote by John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg) > “Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.” [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even well‑structured families experience unexpected mishaps. **In simple terms:** Families can face accidents despite order. Key Takeaway Plan for emergencies. Themes family risk order unexpected accidents Mood cautious realistic Type advice observational When to use this quote - parenting - home safety - insurance - crisis planning Key Concepts probability systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance control with uncertainty? - What safety nets can you create? A Different Perspective Preparedness alone cannot prevent all mishaps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Accidents happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents-happen/) [Families](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/families/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Regulated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regulated/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [Accidents will occur in the best regulated families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/accidents-will-occur-in-the-best-regulated-families/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [All well-regulated families set apart an hour every morning for tea and bread and butter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/all-well-regulated-families-set-apart-an-hour-every-morning-for-tea/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families; and in families not regulated by that pervading influence which sanctifies while it enhances... in short, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/accidents-will-occur-in-the-best-regulated-families-and-in-families/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [We must look back over our lives and look at some of the accidents and curiosities and oddities and troubles and sicknesses and begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/we-must-look-back-over-our-lives-and-look-at-some-of-the-accidents/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Every coach always worries about accidents happening. I was very fortunate as a head coach that we were never in any accidents. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-williams/every-coach-always-worries-about-accidents-happening-i-was-very/) Fred Williams > [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/) > [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/) > [Accidents happen all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accidents-happen-all-the-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Having a large amount of leverage is like driving a car with a dagger on the steering wheel pointed at your heart. 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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [Bromates are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, but officials are required to test for them only when water leaves a treatment plant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/bromates-are-regulated-by-the-safe-drinking-water-act-but-officials/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) ## More by John Dos Passos > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [In a moment when criticism shows a singular dearth of direction every man has to be a law unto himself in matters of theatre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-a-moment-when-criticism-shows-a-singular-dearth-of-direction-every/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [It's rather grisly, isnt it, how soon a living man becomes nothing more than a collection of stocks and bonds and debts and real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/it-s-rather-grisly-isnt-it-how-soon-a-living-man-becomes-nothing-more/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The people of this country are too tolerant. There's no other country in the world where they'd allow it... After all we built up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-people-of-this-country-are-too-tolerant-there-s-no-other-country/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [I never see the dawn that I don't say to myself perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/i-never-see-the-dawn-that-i-don-t-say-to-myself-perhaps/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [When the typewriter stops in a New York office everybody's embarrassed; men start to quarrel or to make love to the stenographer or drop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/when-the-typewriter-stops-in-a-new-york-office-everybody-s/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [What's the use, there never was a woman living who could understand political ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/what-s-the-use-there-never-was-a-woman-living-who-could-understand/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [There is a part of me in every character, naturally. That's why novelists rarely write good autobiographies. You start one and it becomes another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/there-is-a-part-of-me-in-every-character-naturally-that-s-why/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The fascinating thing to a dispassionate observer about the structure of life in the Soviet Union is that in their efforts to produce an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-fascinating-thing-to-a-dispassionate-observer-about-the-structure/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [To fight oppression, and to work as best we can for a sane organization of society, we do not have to abandon the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/to-fight-oppression-and-to-work-as-best-we-can-for-a-sane/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [A satirist is a man whose flesh creeps so at the ugly and the savage and the incongruous aspects of society that he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/a-satirist-is-a-man-whose-flesh-creeps-so-at-the-ugly-and-the-savage/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [Letters are largely written to get things out of your system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/letters-are-largely-written-to-get-things-out-of-your-system/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [The Enormous Room seems to me to be the book that has nearest approached the mood of reckless adventure in which men will reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/the-enormous-room-seems-to-me-to-be-the-book-that-has-nearest/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [“ Luther Burbank was born in a brick farmhouse in Lancaster Mass, he walked through the woods one winter crunching through the shinycrusted snow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/luther-burbank-was-born-in-a-brick-farmhouse-in-lancaster-mass-he/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [It is a most curious experience for a man of seventy-two to be confronted with the greenhorn enthusiasms of his youth. Young people think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/it-is-a-most-curious-experience-for-a-man-of-seventy-two-to-be/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) [Explore all 125 John Dos Passos quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) ## 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. 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/) > [No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-ride/no-i-think-most-astronauts-recognize-that-the-space-shuttle-program/) [Sally Ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-ride/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Good films are not made by accident, nor is good photography. You can have good things happen, on occasion, by accident that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-willis/good-films-are-not-made-by-accident-nor-is-good-photography-you-can/) [Gordon Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-willis/) > [By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/by-education-i-am-an-englishman-by-views-an-internationalist-by/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [I made out with a homeless guy by accident. I had no idea -- he was really tan, he had no shoes on. 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. (As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/despite-my-mentors-advice-that-i-would-never-go-to-heaven-fishing/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Dont stand outside in a lightning shower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padraig/dont-stand-outside-in-a-lightning-shower/) [Padraig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padraig/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) [Browse all 1,971 Accidents quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dos Passos" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regulated-families/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accidents" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regulated-families/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02b/john-dos-passos-3598_accidents_accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regula_1871958.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.” — John Dos Passos", "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": "John Dos Passos", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Accidents will happen in the best...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regulated-families/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/accidents-will-happen-in-the-best-regulated-families/#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 } } ] } ```