accidents will happen in the best families. (19th century)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Mistakes or problems can occur even in well-managed situations
Literally: unintended events occur in respectable households
Examples
The company has a good safety record, but accidents will happen in the best families
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “accidents will happen in the best families. (19th century)” mean?
Mistakes or problems can occur even in well-managed situations Literally: unintended events occur in respectable households
Is “accidents will happen in the best families. (19th century)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.