Every schoolboy
knows that many of the most valuable discoveries in science and art
were accidental, or a kind of necessity, and sprang from causes that
had no place in the forethought of the discoverer. The ostrich lays
its eggs in the sand, and the sun hatches them; so man puts forth an
effort and higher powers second him, and he finds himself the source
of events that he had never conceived or meditated. Things are
so intimately connected and so interdependent, the near and the
remote are so closely related, and all parts of the universe are so
mutually sympathetic, that it is impossible to tell what momentous
secrets may lurk under the most trifling facts, or what grand and
beautiful results may be attained through low and unimportant means.
It seems that Nature delights in surprise, and in underlying our
careless existences with plans that are evermore to disclose
themselves to us and stimulate us to new enterprise and research.
The simplest act of life may discover a chain of cause and effect
that binds together the most remote parts of the system. We are
often nearest to truth in some unexpected moment, and may stumble
upon that while in a careless mood which has eluded our most
vigilant and untiring efforts. Men have seen deepest and farthest
when they opened their eyes without any special aim, and a word or
two carelessly dropped by a companion has revealed to me a truth
that weeks of study had failed to compass.
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