George Soros Quotes

The law of unintended consequences is the only real law of history.

Every action we have is going to have repercussions in ways we could not anticipate.

… minor incidents—the kind you can never really foresee—combine to lower the general level of performance, so that one always falls short of the intended goal.

The law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.

Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed enlightened ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.

Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.

Inevitably, these sorts of things are going to come back to blow up in people's faces.

It is possible that a scientific discovery will be made that humans will later regret because it has awful consequences. The problem is, we probably would not know in advance and, once the discovery is made, it cannot be undiscovered.

The cure can be worse than the illness

Almost every achievement contains within its success the seeds of a future problem.

Be careful what you wish for. There's always a catch.

Success sometimes can really bite you in the shorts.

Sequels are very rarely a good idea, and in any case, the success of the book changed my relationship with the club in some ways.

O! many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant! And many a word, at random spoken, May soothe or wound a heart that's broken!

Not only can you not plan the impact you're going to have, you often won't recognize it even while you're having it.

Successful parties create their own monsters.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Policy remedies tend to have unfortunate side effects.

In world history man’s actions result in something quite different from what he purposes or intends.

Quite often good things have harmful consequences… men have been ruined by their money or killed by their courage.

Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent

Unintended Consequences

Donald Trump is like a practical joke that got out of hand.

In history, good intentions do not always make good consequences

People make decisions that may have one intent and yet are somehow perverted into something else. And sometimes it's because of design. Sometimes it's because of happenstance. But very often, it's mysterious to them.