Man never legislates, but destinies and accidents, happening in all sorts of ways, legislate in all sorts of ways.

Accidents legislate more than we do

We like to believe we're in control—that our choices and systems shape our lives. But Plato points at something humbler and truer: most of what actually happens to us falls outside any law or plan we make. A job offer comes through a friend's casual comment. You meet someone because you took a different route to work. Your career derails because of an industry shift nobody predicted. The legislation that matters happens in the gaps between what we intended.

This doesn't mean planning is pointless. It means our plans are more like guidelines that reality casually ignores. The accidents and destinies—the stuff we can't legislate—often have more say in who we become than our careful resolutions do. A person might commit to becoming a doctor, but a chance encounter with a struggling business owner redirects them entirely. They look back and see the pivot as inevitable, though nothing was decided by law or logic.

The practical upshot: stay alert to the accidents coming your way. They're not interruptions to your plan; they're often the real legislation at work. The best you can do is show up with some direction in mind, then remain flexible enough to follow where the accidents lead. Control is an illusion, but responsiveness to what actually happens—that's real power.