Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.

Marshall’s line suggests a view of historical change as something that can outpace, overwhelm, or correct human planning—especially the plans of institutions that try to freeze social arrangements in place. Read in light of his lifelong work in civil rights law and constitutional litigation, it implies that entrenched systems may resist reform, but broader historical forces (mass movements, shifting public conscience, demographic and political change, accumulating precedents) can compel outcomes that individuals alone cannot engineer. The phrasing also carries a note of humility: even great advocates and judges do not fully “control” events; they participate in a larger, sometimes unpredictable process of justice and transformation.