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Success Quote by Will Harvey

"What is research but a blind date with knowledge?"

About this Quote

Research, in Will Harvey's framing, isn't a pristine pipeline from question to answer; it's a risky social encounter with an unknown outcome. Calling it a "blind date" drags scholarship off the pedestal and into the messy world of mismatched expectations, awkward first impressions, and occasional sparks. For a businessman, that metaphor is doing strategic work: it strips research of its academic aura and rebrands it as entrepreneurial behavior - showing up with a hypothesis, reading signals fast, and deciding whether to commit more time and money.

The intent feels motivational but also quietly cautionary. A blind date implies preparation without control: you can choose the restaurant, not the conversation. That's a useful corrective to the corporate fantasy that data will always behave like a vending machine: insert budget, receive certainty. Harvey's line admits the emotional texture of inquiry - anticipation, vulnerability, the possibility of embarrassment - while keeping it accessible to people who don't live in labs or libraries.

The subtext is about humility and appetite. "Blind" nods to how little you truly know at the start, even if your deck looks confident. "With knowledge" personifies the target as something you meet, not something you own. That matters in business culture, where "insights" are often treated as commodities. Here, knowledge has agency; it can disappoint you, surprise you, or change the terms of engagement.

Contextually, the quote sits comfortably in an era of A/B testing, rapid iteration, and startup mythology: progress comes from courting uncertainty, not eliminating it.

Quote Details

TopicKnowledge
Source
Later attribution: Evidence-Informed Wisdom (Bradley Busch, Edward Watson, Matthew..., 2025) modern compilationISBN: 9781040363119 · ID: -45cEQAAQBAJ
Text match: 95.00%   Provider: Google Books
Evidence:
... What is research but a blind date with knowledge ? – Will Harvey This quote captures the essence of research as an unpredictable journey into the unknown , filled with curiosity , anticipation , hope and sometimes disappointment . Much ...
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Harvey, Will. (2026, February 13). What is research but a blind date with knowledge? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-is-research-but-a-blind-date-with-knowledge-136508/

Chicago Style
Harvey, Will. "What is research but a blind date with knowledge?" FixQuotes. February 13, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-is-research-but-a-blind-date-with-knowledge-136508/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"What is research but a blind date with knowledge?" FixQuotes, 13 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-is-research-but-a-blind-date-with-knowledge-136508/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.

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Research is a Blind Date with Knowledge - Will Harvey
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Will Harvey is a Businessman from USA.

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