This passage comes from a letter written by the Danish shipowner A.P. Møller to the management of the Lindø shipyard. It expands on the principle of “rettidig omhu”, usually translated as “constant care”, which he had first set down in a 1946 letter to his son.

Møller argues that wherever carelessness leaves an opening, a loss or accident will eventually follow – if not at once, then in time. Drawing on decades of experience in shipping, he frames vigilance not as caution for its own sake but as a practical necessity in an industry where errors can be costly.

The final line challenges the assumption that because something has worked before it will work again. Møller presents this “habitual thinking” as detached from reality, and treats sustained attention, rather than reliance on past success, as the surer basis for reliable operation.

Full quotation

“Constant care from everyone, in matters great and small and always, is a necessary condition for the company’s success. Everyone should expect that every mishap, every damage or loss, every accident, for which the opportunity is created by a lack of constant care, will by necessity always occur; sooner or later; sometimes quite quickly, sometimes later, but expect it to happen sooner or later. This is my observation through many decades of experience, and the shipyard’s management and staff should learn from it. Also for the enrichment of their own lives and work. The argument of habitual thinking, It worked before, so it will probably work again, is not rooted in life’s realities.”

Original quotation in Danish

“1) Rettidig omhu fra alle, i stort og småt og altid, er en betingelse for, at virksomheden kan gå. 2) Alle bør regne med, at ethvert uheld, enhver skade eller tab, enhver ulykke, som der åbnes mulighed for ved manglende rettidig omhu vil naturnødvendigt indtræffe; før eller senere; somme tider ret hurtigt, somme tider senere, men regn med at det kommer før eller senere. Dette er min iagttagelse gennem mange decenniers virke, og værftets ledelse og personale bør drage lære deraf. Også til berigelse af eget liv og virke. Vanetænkningens argument: Det er gået før, så det går nok, har ikke rod i livets realiteter.”