An actuary is someone who brings a fake bomb on a plane because that decreases the chances that there will be another bomb on the plane.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
Quotations by:
Peter, Lawrence J.
Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents’ shortcomings.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
Would the boy you were be proud of the man you are?
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can make a damn fool of yourself any old time.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Almanac, “3 December” (1982)
See Lincoln.
Tact is the art of putting your foot down without stepping on anyone’s toes.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Almanac, “July 26” (1982)
(Source)
There are two kinds of losers: (1) the good loser and (2) those who can’t act.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s People, ch. 8 (1979)
The red light is always longer than the green light.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s People, ch. 8, “Peter’s Theory of Relativity” (1979)
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)
History teaches us the mistakes we are going to make.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)
There are two kinds of egotists: Those who admit it and the rest of us.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)
The most useful of all social graces is the ability to yawn with your mouth closed.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)
(Source)
Variant: As quoted in The Wall Street Journal (9 Aug 1984): 'At board meetings, "the one unmatched asset is the ability to yawn with your mouth closed," says Robert Mueller in a new book, 'Behind the Boardroom Door.'"
Middle age is when you stop criticizing the older generation and start criticizing the younger one.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)
A pessimist is a man who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)
[The reformer] wants his conscience to be your guide.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)
Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Almanac, entry for 24 Sep. (1982).
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle, ch. 1 (1969)
Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear, but forgetting where you heard it.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle (1969)
If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle (1969)
Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle (1969)
See Richard Cumberland.