--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To expect that the intricacies of science…" description: "\"To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a peculi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png" --- # To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced… ![“To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a peculiar privilege, a power denied to the rest of mankind; but to suppose that the maze is inscrutable to diligence, or the heights inaccessible to…” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png) > “To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a peculiar privilege, a power denied to the rest of mankind; but to suppose that the maze is inscrutable to diligence, or the heights inaccessible to perseverance, is to submit tamely to the tyranny of fancy, and enchain the mind in voluntary shackles.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hard work and perseverance are the only true paths to achievement; relying on luck or talent alone is folly. **In simple terms:** Success requires effort, not just talent. Key Takeaway Work diligently toward goals. Themes effort perseverance realism Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - academic study - skill mastery - entrepreneurship Key Concepts Stoicism work ethic Questions to Reflect On - What goals have you been relying on luck for? - How can you add disciplined effort to your pursuits? A Different Perspective Talent without effort rarely yields lasting results. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Diligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diligence/) [Fame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fame/) [Labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Mazes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mazes/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseverance/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Shackles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shackles/) [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) ## Related quotes > [What a peculiar privilege has this little agitation of the brain which we call 'thought'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/what-a-peculiar-privilege-has-this-little-agitation-of-the-brain/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The inscrutable wisdom through which we exist is not less worthy of veneration in respect to what it denies us than in respect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-inscrutable-wisdom-through-which-we-exist-is-not-less-worthy-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/cruel-but-composed-and-bland-dumb-inscrutable-and-grand-so-tiberius/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [These warriors of the Sacred Band were inscrutable; they loved their war and death and picking through the bones of time to sort out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/these-warriors-of-the-sacred-band-were-inscrutable-they-loved-their/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [Jesus will turn your sorrow into joy. 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Then no one will be able to figure out what you’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-hammond/the-easiest-way-to-be-inscrutable-is-to-be-completely-straightforward/) [George Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-hammond/) > [The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-ways-of-providence-being-inscrutable-and-the-justice-of-it-not-to/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Before exulatation had vanished, I felt as if I had been granted a marvellous privilege. 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I hate them because one never really learns anything about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-hate-women-hate-them-generally-not-in-particular-but-in-an-abstract/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I don’t know where the universe came from or what happens to creatures when they die. I don’t know if the whole thing’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-don-t-know-where-the-universe-came-from-or-what-happens-to/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Careless quotes > [We Americans tend to be a prodigal lot. We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [“The rich eat life, the poor eat death; so what is the problem they ask?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/the-rich-eat-life-the-poor-eat-death-so-what-is-the-problem-they-ask/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [the greater part of the suffering in the world is caused not by wicked intents and hard hearts, but by the careless desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marah-ellis-ryan/the-greater-part-of-the-suffering-in-the-world-is-caused-not-by/) [Marah Ellis Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marah-ellis-ryan/) > [It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-is-the-habit-of-mankind-to-entrust-to-careless-hope-what-they-long/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/and-hast-thou-sworn-on-every-slight-pretence-till-perjuries-are/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached...let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/sunday-morning-before-we-go-to-hear-the-word-of-god-preached-let-us/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Being carefree, you can fit in anywhere. If you’re not carefree you keep on bumping up against things. Your life becomes so narrow, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsoknyi-rinpoche/being-carefree-you-can-fit-in-anywhere-if-you-re-not-carefree-you/) [Tsoknyi Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsoknyi-rinpoche/) > [The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-paradox-of-courage-is-that-a-man-must-be-a-little-careless-of-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Phaedra shook her head. “If your people mean no offense, they should not speak their thoughts out loud in front of their children, Tesadora.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-shook-her-head-if-your-people-mean-no-offense-they-should-not/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelela/a-lot-of-white-men-in-the-music-industry-are-promoting-and/) [Kelela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelela/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) Browse all 450 Careless quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame ascended without labour, is to expect a peculiar privilege, a power denied to the rest of mankind; but to suppose that the maze is inscrutable to diligence, or the heights inaccessible to perseverance, is to submit tamely to the tyranny of fancy, and enchain the mind in voluntary shackles.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-science-will-be-pierced-by-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Careless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-science-will-be-pierced-by-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/samuel-johnson-50_careless_to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-scienc_1874739.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To expect that the intricacies of science will be pierced by a careless glance, or the eminences of fame…” — Samuel Johnson", "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": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To expect that the intricacies of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-science-will-be-pierced-by-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-expect-that-the-intricacies-of-science-will-be-pierced-by-a/#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 } } ] } ```