The future has a way of arriving unannounced.

Will’s line underscores how historical change and personal circumstance often arrive without clear signals or ceremonial “beginnings.” It cautions against the comforting belief that major shifts—political realignments, technological disruptions, economic turns, or private crises—will be preceded by unmistakable warnings. The aphorism also implies a critique of complacency: if the future comes “unannounced,” prudence requires resilience, preparation, and humility about prediction. In a columnist’s register, it can be read as a reminder that policy and institutions should be designed for surprise—because what seems stable can be overtaken quickly by events that, in retrospect, look inevitable but were not experienced as such in real time.