Eric Hoffer said: Listen, suppose you come to San Francisco looking for a person whose address you don’t know. You can trace him by research. You look in the telephone directory, you go to City Hall; if he’s a workman, you go to the unions; if
he’s a doctor, you go to the medical associations, and so on. This is not my way! My way is to stand on the corner of Powell and Market and wait for him to come by. And if you have all the time in the world and you are interested in the passing scene, this is as good a way as any; and if you don’t meet him, you are going to meet someone else. That’s how I do research. I go to the library, I pick up the things that interest me, I use whatever comes my way. And I believe that if you have a good theory, the things you need will come your way. You’ll be lucky. You know what Pasteur said: Chance favors the prepared mind.
