WIST Quotations

Kettering, Charles F. -- “250 at Luncheon Honor Kettering,” New York Times (1936-11-11)

Dave — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:24:39 +0000

When we look forward and try to project what may come out of a development, we are always wrong, because the by-products sometimes become far more important than the primary thing you started out to accomplish. Nevertheless, unintelligent motion is a great deal more important in research than intelligent standing still.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
“250 at Luncheon Honor Kettering,” New York Times (1936-11-11)

Kettering, Charles F. -- “Industrial Prospecting,” Speech, Founder Societies of Engineers (20 May 1935)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:20:27 +0000

I often say that research is a way of finding out what you are going to do when you can’t keep on doing what you are doing now.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
“Industrial Prospecting,” Speech, Founder Societies of Engineers (20 May 1935)

Kettering, Charles F. -- “Kettering’s Law,” from address before American Society of Mechanical Engineers (c. 1944)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
“Kettering’s Law,” from address before American Society of Mechanical Engineers (c. 1944)

Quoted in Heinlein, The Number of the Beast (1980). Alternately quoted:

"Beware logic. Logic is an organized way to go wrong -- with confidence."
Logic is an organized way to go wrong with confidence. We should all know by now that a logical course is not always the right one."

Sometimes referred to "Kettering's Observation."

Cited in Food Industries magazine, vol. 16 (1944), referring to the speech being "recent" (the magazine is also referred to as Food Engineering).

This site previously incorrectly attributed the quote to Iris Murdoch. That attribution seems to have been duplicated at some other sites, but was an error. I have also found citations to L. Walter Lundell and Karl Popper.

Another "Kettering's Law" that is referenced is: "Parts left out cost nothing, require no maintenance, and do not fail."

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

A problem well defined is a problem half solved.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 11:55:14 +0000

Every great improvement has come after repeated failures. Virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 16:44:00 +0000

You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:17:52 +0000

The only difference between a problem and a solution is that people understand the solution.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Quoted in Thomas Alvin Boyd, Charles F. Kettering: A Biography (1957)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 14:59:00 +0000

People see the wrongness in an idea much quicker that the rightness.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 13:12:24 +0000

People are very open-minded about new things — as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 13:51:17 +0000

Keep on going, and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Variant:

"Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down."

I am unable to find this precise phrase in Kettering's writings or primary writings about him. However, this appears to have been part of a common set of phrases he used, which indicates either it is accurate or a paraphrase of one of them:

Accomplishment has been an accident as a rule. Nobody ever stumbled while he was standing still. You only stumble when you are moving. So we always had it a rule in our organization when we lacked intelligence we speeded up motion, because the chances of stumbling infinitely increased.
"250 at Luncheon Honor Kettering," New York Times (1936-11-11)

Nobody ever found anything while sitting down. So, Q.E.D., don't be afraid to stumble.
“Don’t Be Afraid to Stumble,” The Rotarian (1952-01)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 14:46:36 +0000

In America we can say what we think, and even if we can’t think, we can say it anyhow.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:13:02 +0000

If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:34:45 +0000

If I want to stop a research program I can always do it by getting a few experts to sit in on the subject, because they know right away that it was a fool thing to try in the first place.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 13:07:30 +0000

An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he’s in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 16:33:32 +0000

The whole fun of living is trying to make something better.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Kettering, Charles F. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 13:07:11 +0000

A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
(Attributed)

Sometimes attributed to John Dewey.

Kettering, Charles F. -- Comment (1930)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:40:06 +0000

Whenever you look at a piece of work and you think the fellow was crazy, then you want to pay some attention to that. One of you is likely to be, and you had better find out which one it is. It makes an awful lot of difference.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
Comment (1930)

As attributed by Francis Davis, inventor of power steering.

Kettering, Charles F. -- Essay (1952-01), “Don’t Be Afraid to Stumble,” The Rotarian, Vol. 80, No. 1

Dave — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:35:09 +0000

[T]he more education a man has, the less likely he is to invent new things. Possibly this is because from the moment the boy or girl starts in school he or she is examined three or four times a year and a failure or two and he or she is out. Now because an inventor works differently, he thinks that’s all wrong. He knows he’ll never go far on any problem before he strikes snags. He may flunk 999 times but if on his 1,000th try he succeeds, he wins! The only time you don’t want to fail is the last time you try a thing.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
Essay (1952-01), “Don’t Be Afraid to Stumble,” The Rotarian, Vol. 80, No. 1

Kettering, who was R&D Director at General Motors for many years, constantly emphasized the need for experimentation and, by definition, learning from experimental failures. He had a number of aphorisms and passages that were repeated by him on various speaking occasions, or quoted / paraphrased from him by others, particularly the last line above.

In T. A. Boyd's biography of Kettering, Professional Amateur, Part 3, ch. 20 (1957), we have:

It therefore seems that the only factor which needs to be corrected is to teach a highly educated person that it is not a disgrace to fail and he must analyze every failure to find its cause. We paraphrase this by saying, "You must learn how to fail intelligently." [...] For failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. [...] Once you've failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try.

Here is this similar passage attributed to Kettering from a page blurb, "Don't Be Afraid to Stumble," Supervisory Management magazine, Vol. 2, No. 7 (1957-06):

We need to teach the intelligent person that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause. He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. Once you've failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading to success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try.

The shorter the phrase, the more likely it is to be quoted on its own, e.g.:

The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try.

Which can be found in:

T. A. Boyd, Research, ch. 22 "Persistance" (1935).
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Journal, Vol 42, No. 2 (1938-02), covering the Detroit SAE Annual Meeting (1938-01-10 to 14).

Other variants that can be found:

"The only time you mustn't fail is the last time you try."
"The only time you can't afford to fail is the last time you try."
"The only time you don't fail is the last time you try something, and it works."

Kettering, Charles F. -- In “Looking ahead with Boss Ket,” Popular Mechanics (Feb 1935)

Dave — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:52:34 +0000

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
In “Looking ahead with Boss Ket,” Popular Mechanics (Feb 1935)

Kettering, Charles F. -- Quoted in T. A. Boyd, Professional Amateur: The Biography of Charles Franklin Kettering, Part 3, ch. 20 (1957)

Dave — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 21:14:24 +0000

It therefore seems that the only factor which needs to be corrected is to teach a highly educated person that it is not a disgrace to fail and he must analyze every failure to find its cause. We paraphrase this by saying, “You must learn how to fail intelligently.” […] For failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. […] Once you’ve failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don’t want to fail is the last time you try.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
Quoted in T. A. Boyd, Professional Amateur: The Biography of Charles Franklin Kettering, Part 3, ch. 20 (1957)

Kettering constantly emphasized the need for experimentation and, by definition, learning from experimental failures. He had a number of aphorisms and passages that were repeated by him on various speaking occasions, or quoted / paraphrased from him by others.

For example, there is this similar passage attributed to Kettering from a page blurb, "Don't Be Afraid to Stumble," Supervisory Management magazine, Vol. 2, No. 7 (1957-06):

We need to teach the intelligent person that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause. He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. Once you've failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading to success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try.

The shorter the piece, the more likely it is to be quoted on its own, e.g.:

The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try.

Which can be found in:

T. A. Boyd, Research, ch. 22 "Persistance" (1935).
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Journal, Vol 42, No. 2 (1938-02), covering the Detroit SAE Annual Meeting (1938-01-10 to 14).

Kettering, Charles F. -- Sign at the General Motors research laboratories

Dave — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 16:02:21 +0000

This problem, when solved, will be simple.

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American inventor, engineer, researcher, businessman
Sign at the General Motors research laboratories

Quoted by Kettering in "Don't Be Afraid to Stumble," The Rotarian (Jan 1952)