--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Random chance was not a sufficient…" description: "\"Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the Universe---in fact, random chance was not sufficient to explain random chance; the pot could not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/robert-a-heinlein-209_chance_random-chance-was-not-a-sufficient-expla_1248901.jpg" --- # Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the… ![“Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the Universe---in fact, random chance was not sufficient to explain random chance; the pot could not hold itself.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/robert-a-heinlein-209_chance_random-chance-was-not-a-sufficient-expla_1248901.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/robert-a-heinlein-209_chance_random-chance-was-not-a-sufficient-expla_1248901.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/robert-a-heinlein-209_chance_random-chance-was-not-a-sufficient-expla_1248901.jpg) > “Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the Universe---in fact, random chance was not sufficient to explain random chance; the pot could not hold itself.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Randomness alone cannot fully explain existence; deeper principles are needed. **In simple terms:** Chance isn’t enough to explain everything. Key Takeaway Explore underlying laws. Themes philosophy science existence Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - theoretical physics - daily decision making Key Concepts cosmology determinism probability Questions to Reflect On - What deeper forces might shape reality? - How do we balance chance and law? A Different Perspective Randomness can still play a role. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Chance Sufficient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance-sufficient-1981080/) [Explain Random](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-random-1981079/) [Explanation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation/) [Explanation Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation-universe-747169/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pot/) [Random chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/random-chance/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [Random chance is not sufficient to explain random chance. ~Jubal Harshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/random-chance-is-not-sufficient-to-explain-random-chance-jubal-harshaw/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The Universe was a damned silly place at best . . . but the least likely explanation for its existence was the no-explanation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-universe-was-a-damned-silly-place-at-best-but-the-least-likely/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/someone-once-said-that-if-you-sat-a-million-monkeys-at-a-million/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [The Universe was a silly place at best...but the least likely explanation for it was the no-explanation of random chance, the conceit that abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-universe-was-a-silly-place-at-best-but-the-least-likely/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Religion began as a natural explanation of the universe. The problem started when people refused to accept new evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-b-king/religion-began-as-a-natural-explanation-of-the-universe-the-problem/) [B. B. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-b-king/) > [Suppose cats became philosophers, they would see a cat universe and have a cat solution of the problem of the universe, and a cat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/suppose-cats-became-philosophers-they-would-see-a-cat-universe-and/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I would suggest, merely as a metaphor here, but also as the basis for a scientific program to investigate the computational capacity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/i-would-suggest-merely-as-a-metaphor-here-but-also-as-the-basis-for-a/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [In spite of all evidence that life is discontinuous, a valley of rifts, and that random chance plays a great part in our fates,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/in-spite-of-all-evidence-that-life-is-discontinuous-a-valley-of-rifts/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I used to be an atheist, until I realized I had nothing to shout during blowjobs. Oh Random Chance! Oh Random Chance! just doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-used-to-be-an-atheist-until-i-realized-i-had-nothing-to-shout/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [There are good people who are dealt a bad hand by fate, and bad people who live long, comfortable, privileged lives. A small twist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/there-are-good-people-who-are-dealt-a-bad-hand-by-fate-and-bad-people/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) > [There is a god. Nothing as tragic and ridiculous as this world could have happened by random chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-viehl/there-is-a-god-nothing-as-tragic-and-ridiculous-as-this-world-could/) [Lynn Viehl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-viehl/) > [Very little evidence was found that any individual fund was able to do significantly better than that which we expected from mere random chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jensen/very-little-evidence-was-found-that-any-individual-fund-was-able-to/) [Michael Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jensen/) > [If you flip a coin three times and it lands on heads each time, it’s probably chance. If you flip it a hundred times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-colin-campbell/if-you-flip-a-coin-three-times-and-it-lands-on-heads-each-time-it-s/) [T. Colin Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-colin-campbell/) > [“Every life is a mystery. And every story of every life is a mystery. But it is not what happens that is the mystery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornell-woolrich/every-life-is-a-mystery-and-every-story-of-every-life-is-a-mystery/) [Cornell Woolrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornell-woolrich/) > [When I started to pick up the bass, it was purely by random chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eberhard-weber/when-i-started-to-pick-up-the-bass-it-was-purely-by-random-chance/) [Eberhard Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eberhard-weber/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. 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Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Chance quotes > [Before I debuted, it was my goal to make my debut, and afterwards, I aimed at winning champion titles on television music shows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyuna/before-i-debuted-it-was-my-goal-to-make-my-debut-and-afterwards-i/) [Hyuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyuna/) > [I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. 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With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. 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