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About this quote

What does it mean?
Success in evolution or life requires navigating many challenges, not just luck.
In plain terms
You need more than luck to survive many obstacles in a row.
What can you take from it?
Persistence and adaptation matter more than chance for long-term success.

Where it applies

  • career challenges
  • life planning
  • evolutionary discussions

Putting it to work

  • prepare for multiple hurdles
  • plan for resilience

Questions to consider

  • How much of success is luck vs skill?

Another view

Luck still plays a significant role in many outcomes.

More from Richard Dawkins

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  2. The river of my title is a river of DNA, and it flows through time, not space. It is a river of information, not a river of bones and tissues.

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  3. The world becomes full of organisms that have what it takes to become ancestors. That, in a sentence, is Darwinism.

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