Nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design

I have always enjoyed this quote from An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767) by Adam Ferguson.  Part II, Section II.

Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed enlightened ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.

A near perfect description of emergent order.