Sep 22, 06 | Random walk

It is well known the drunken sailor who staggers to the left or right with n independent random steps will, on the average, end about radical n steps from the origin. But if there is a pretty girl in one direction, then his steps will tend to go in that direction and he will go a distance proportional to n. In a lifetime of many, many independent choices, small and large, a career with a vision will get you a distance proportional to n, while no vision will get you only the distance radical n.

- The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn by Richard Hamming