"He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one." (Henry D Thoreau, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers", 1849)
"There is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss. As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reason on the unforeseen." (Gilbert K Chesterton, "The Father Brown omnibus", 1951)
"In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted." (Rex Stout, "Champagne for One", 1958)
"There is no coincidence. Only the illusion of coincidence." (Alan Moore, "V for Vendetta", 1982)
"Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys." (Emma Bull, "Bone Dance: A Fantasy for Technophiles", 1991)
"Coincidence is just the word we use when we have not yet discovered the cause." (Orson Scott Card, "The Call Of Earth", 1992)
"If you stare long enough at anything, you will start to find similarities. The word 'coincidence' exists in order to stop people from seeing meaning where none exists." (Chuck Klosterman, "Eating the Dinosaur", 2009)
"When there are strange things going on all around, every coincidence should be considered very carefully." (Sergei Lukyanenko, "The New Watch", 2013)
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