The chance of learning what you need to know when you need to know it

"A maid you had broken a porcelain cup, remark[ed], that what cannot be repaired is not to be regretted. This was obvious; and Rasselas reproached himself that he had not discovered it, having not known, or considered, how many useful hints are obtained by chance, and how often the mind, hurried by her own ardour to distant views, neglects the truths that lie open before her" (Johnson 9).