accidents will happen in the best regulated families

== English == === Etymology === First attested in the early 19th century. Popularised by Charles Dickens' novel The Personal History of David Copperfield (1850). === Proverb === accidents will happen in the best regulated families Accidents will always happen, even where there is an expectation of success. 1842, Life in the West: Back-wood Leaves and Prairie Flowers, Saunders and Otley (publ.), page 65. 1843 February, Charles Starr, Jr., "Inversion of the womb, or the casting of the withers" (letter to the editor), American Agriculturalist, page 22. === See also === accidents will happen the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry