Who said once an accident, twice a coincidence, three times a pattern?
The phrase "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern" is a variation of a famous line by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, from his novel Goldfinger (1959), which states, "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action". While Fleming's version points to deliberate interference, the common modern adaptation signifies that a repeated event reveals an underlying pattern or issue, not just chance.
Who said once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern?
Fleming, Ian | “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.” | Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 2 | 2022 | Sotheby's.
"I've often noticed that once coincidences start happening they go on happening in the most extraordinary way. I dare say it's some natural law that we haven't found out.
Miss Marple's famous quotes highlight her astute understanding of human nature, often comparing village life to the wider world, emphasizing that people are similar everywhere, and showing her keen eye for hidden truths behind seemingly innocent remarks, revealing deep insights into love, sin, and justice through her gentle, yet penetrating observations. Key themes include that "human nature is much the same everywhere," people often believe what they're told (unlike her), and "the wicked should not go unpunished".
Freud said that coincidences do not exist; that when we bump into someone by chance it is because we had already seen them out of the corner of our eye and we let them pass, but they stayed there, in our subconscious and we didn't stop until we got them.
Mycroft Holmes: “What do we say about coincidences?” Sherlock Holmes: “The universe is rarely so lazy.” Mycroft Holmes: “What do we say about coincidences?”
What is the most famous quote ever said in history?
There's no single "most famous" quote, but top contenders include Neil Armstrong's "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream," and William Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be: that is the question," as they're globally recognized across cultures and history, alongside famous lines like "Veni, vidi, vici" and "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" by Oscar Wilde.
"One sometimes finds what one is NOT looking for." - Alexander Fleming. Mr. Fleming wasn't looking for an antibiotic. But in the midst of one of his experiments on the influenza virus he discovered Penicillin.
C.S. Lewis has many famous quotes, but some of the most well-known revolve around faith, purpose, and desire, such as, "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world," and his famous dichotomy: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done'".
Three is the smallest number of elements required to create a pattern. A single instance could simply be chance. The second instance could be considered coincidence or serendipity, but the third instance is perceived as a pattern.
What is the famous saying about repeating history?
Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted as having said, “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail ...
Sherlock Holmes's most iconic lines revolve around his deductive method, with "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" being central to his character, though "Elementary, my dear Watson" is his most famous, despite never appearing verbatim in Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories https://sherlockholmes.com/blogs/news/sherlock-holmes-quotes-timeless-wisdom-that echoes. Other notable phrases include "The game is afoot!" and "You see, but you do not observe".
Moriarty is obsessed with Sherlock because he sees him as the only person on Earth with an intellect equal to his own, providing the ultimate challenge and a worthy opponent for his "game," turning their rivalry into a twisted, intellectual, and personal obsession driven by boredom and a desire to prove who is superior. He recognizes Sherlock as a dark mirror of himself—a "consulting criminal" to Sherlock's "consulting detective"—and seeks to test, break, and eventually defeat him, viewing their dynamic as a fascinating, high-stakes play rather than a simple desire to kill him.
“A problem well stated is a problem half solved.” “A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.” “If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail.”
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, viewed homosexuality, like all forms of sexuality, as being caused by a combination of biological, social and psychological factors.
Never tell all you know—not even to the person you know best. One of the saddest things in life, is the things one remembers. The young people think the old people are fools -- but the old people know the young people are fools. In the midst of life, we are in death.
