Dawn on

It finally dawned on him that he could automate the process instead of doing it by hand each time.

Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

"Sir," he remarked, "you have been robbed," and then it suddenly dawned on me that it must have taken place as I was passing the men congregated in the corridor.

What dawned on me as the night went on is that even in apparently frivolous conditions the establishment asserts control, and won't tolerate having that assertion challenged, even flippantly, by that most beautifully adept tool: comedy.

Underground stations were also slated for closure, and there were plans for massive ring roads to cater for the ever-growing numbers of people commuting into town by car. […] However, it soon dawned on politicians that this was unsustainable. Much of London would have had to be demolished to make way for the ring roads, and parking was becoming an insuperable difficulty.