They brought the plan through, because they loved the greater Plan. - Isaac Asimov

The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: “No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.”

En toda la Historia humana, ninguna otra inteligencia nos ha amenazado, que
nosotros sepamos. Bastaría con que esto continuase durante unos pocos siglos,
tal vez poco más de una milésima del tiempo que llevamos de civilización,
para que estuviésemos a salvo. A fin de cuentas –y aquí sintió Trevize una súbita aprensión que se obligó a pasar por alto– no es como si ya tuviésemos al
enemigo entre nosotros. Y no bajó la mirada para no encontrarse con los ojos
reflexivos de Fallom (hermafrodita, transductora, diferente) que le estaban mirando, fijos, insondables.

A person willing to fly in the face of reason, authority, and common sense must be a person of considerable self-assurance. Since he occurs only rarely, he must seem eccentric (in at least that respect) to the rest of us. A person eccentric in one respect is often eccentric in others.

Consequently, the person who is most likely to get new ideas is a person of good background in the field of interest and one who is unconventional in his habits. (To be a crackpot is not, however, enough in itself.)