“He who does not expect will not find out the unexpected, for it is trackless and unexplored.”

—  Heraclitus

Fragment 18, as quoted in The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: An Edition of the Fragments (1981) edited by Charles H. Kahn, p. 105
Variants:
He who does not expect the unexpected will not find it out.
The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: An Edition of the Fragments (1981) edited by Charles H. Kahn, p. 129
He who does not expect the unexpected will not find it, since it is trackless and unexplored.
As quoted in Helen by Euripides, edited by William Allan (2008), p. 278
Unless you expect the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is hidden and thickly tangled.
Rendering ἐὰν μή "unless" is more English-friendly without being inaccurate. As for the last clause, the point is that you can neither find it nor navigate your way through it. The alpha-privatives suggest using similar metaphoric adjectives to keep the Greek 'feel.' (S. N. Jenks, 2014)
Numbered fragments

Original

ἐὰν μὴ ἔλπηται ἀνέλπιστον, οὐκ ἐξευρήσει

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Heraclitus photo
Heraclitus 46
pre-Socratic Greek philosopher -535

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