Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.
Working on 'Open All Hours' had some unexpected perks, not least the attractions of the canteen at the BBC's rehearsal studios in West London.
I've said it before about the Nobel Prize: it's like being struck by a more or less benign avalanche. It was unexpected, unlooked for, and extraordinary.
I tend to see my characters from inside and outside at once; this is a technique I use to retain a slight distance. It means my characters can act in unexpected ways on two axes: physical and mental. It isn't just, 'I thought this and then I did this,' which is the technique of the modern psychological novel.
True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed.
We have to pay close attention to what we see, and be ready to work with the unexpected according to the basic principles of systems biology and medicine.
Above all, a well-imagined story is organized around extraordinary human behaviors and unexpected and startling events, which help illuminate the commonplace and the ordinary.
When you procrastinate, you're more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns.
Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.
I've always tried to control everything and every aspect of my life, and this is maybe the biggest lesson I've learnt with motherhood - you just can't control everything, and I'm much more relaxed now about unexpected changes and things that happen.
An unexpected benefit of my career in biochemistry has been travel.
Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.
A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.
The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.
No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.
In retrospect, the populist panic may have been overblown. Regarding Brexit, for example, the shock exaggerated its meaning. Because it was so unexpected, it became a sensation.
Too often, bridal shows are boring - I love including a small, unexpected element to make it interesting, like the removable skirts and umbrellas in seasons past.
I used to think that the British press were particularly awful to Cherie Blair. I think Blair's foreign policy was a complete disaster, but the British press, when they wanted to explain why Blair took unexpected moves, they did create Cherie as the power behind the throne.
The fear of burglars is not only the fear of being robbed, but also the fear of a sudden and unexpected clutch out of the darkness.
On October 18, 1941, I suddenly received a mandate from His Majesty to form a new cabinet. This was completely unexpected, and when I was summoned to the Imperial Palace I thought I would be questioned on the army's point of view.