This essay is--oddly--both threadbare and meandering, and has turns of phrase that look like they were kept from an earlier, tighter version, such as the second sentence's "may have [...] but by".
(Ok ok ... the real quote is actually: "The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It", and I actually think he also had that quote from someone else, earlier, but I forgot the name.)
This essay is--oddly--both threadbare and meandering, and has turns of phrase that look like they were kept from an earlier, tighter version, such as the second sentence's "may have [...] but by".