J. L. B. Smith Quote

Scientific discovery rarely follows a smooth and orderly course. Like most natural processes it proceeds spasmodically, and important results frequently come only after long-drawn-out, exhausting, and apparently fruitless endeavor, sometimes even almost by what appears to be a lucky chance.

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, (1940), A Living Fossil (p. 321)