I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in

“I don’t believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.” — Thus spoke Pablo Picasso, the painter who turned the visible world inside out and gave it new form. In this single utterance, he revealed not only his vision of art, but of destiny itself. These words are the creed of one who sees purpose behind chaos, order behind chance, and meaning behind every meeting of lives and moments. To Picasso, nothing in creation happens by mere coincidence; every crossing of paths, every collision of souls, every turning point in history is an encounter — a deliberate meeting written into the vast design of existence.

When he says, “There are no accidents,” he does not mean that life is predictable or that the future can be seen. Rather, he means that every event, no matter how unexpected, belongs to a deeper harmony — a kind of divine composition where even disorder serves creation. For Picasso, who broke every artistic rule and yet found beauty in every fragment, this belief was not philosophy alone but the very rhythm of his life. In art as in history, he saw the world not as random, but as interconnected, each stroke of time shaping the grand canvas of human experience.

The word “encounter” in his quote is rich with meaning. It suggests not only meeting, but collision — a creative clash of ideas, cultures, and souls that produces transformation. History itself is born from such encounters. When the ancient Greeks met the Persians, when Rome encountered Christianity, when Europe discovered the New World, the world was remade, for better or worse. Each of these meetings was filled with struggle and revelation. They were not accidents, but necessary awakenings in the long evolution of humankind. To understand history as a series of encounters is to see it as a living dialogue — a conversation across centuries between peoples and ideas.

Picasso’s own life bears witness to this truth. As a young artist in Paris, he encountered the masks of African art, and in that moment, his vision of painting was forever changed. The meeting of his European training with the raw spiritual power of African form gave birth to Cubism, one of the most revolutionary movements in modern art. Some might call it chance — that he happened upon those artifacts at that time and place — but Picasso saw it as destiny. For him, such an encounter was the universe speaking through coincidence, guiding him toward discovery. In his eyes, even the unexpected was part of the great unfolding of creation.

To believe that there are no accidents is to live with awareness — to see every person, every failure, every joy as a thread in the divine tapestry. It means that the stranger you meet today, the hardship that tests you, the opportunity that surprises you — all are encounters meant to shape your journey. The ancients called this fate, or providence, yet Picasso spoke of it in the language of the artist: each brushstroke, however small, is part of the masterpiece. The wise do not curse the imperfections of the painting; they learn to see how each color belongs to the whole.

This idea also carries humility. For if every encounter has meaning, then none of us stand alone as masters of destiny. We are co-creators with history, not its lords. Every action we take ripples outward, touching lives we may never know. Just as the meeting of two civilizations births a new world, so too can the meeting of two hearts birth a new understanding. The artist, the leader, the thinker — all are born not in isolation, but in encounter. Even genius, Picasso reminds us, is not an accident, but the flowering of countless influences meeting in a single life.

Let this be your lesson: move through the world as one who believes that nothing is wasted. See every person you meet as a messenger, every obstacle as a teacher, every coincidence as a calling. When fortune turns, do not ask “Why me?” but rather “What is this moment trying to show me?” The one who lives with such vision walks in the rhythm of destiny, not as a victim of chaos, but as a participant in meaning.

For in truth, as Picasso teaches, there are no accidents — only encounters. The brush may tremble, the hand may falter, but the painting continues. And when history looks back upon your life, it will see not randomness, but the divine pattern of encounters that shaped who you became. Live, then, with eyes open to every meeting, every moment — for in them, the universe speaks.