Hoover, Herbert -- Memoirs: Years of Adventure, 1874–1920, ch. 11 “The Profession of Engineering” (1952)

Dave — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:32:36 +0000

The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Memoirs: Years of Adventure, 1874–1920, ch. 11 “The Profession of Engineering” (1952)
(Source)

While treating this as the definitive version of this litany, a number of variations can be found in Hoover's writing and speaking prior to this. The earliest is same text is found in his essay (1916), "Engineering as a Profession" (reprinted as a 1954 article in Engineer's Week). Some of the other variants follow.

Speech (1950-02-09), "Engineering Society of the Moles," New York City:

The engineer has certain disadvantages compared to the other professions. His works are out in the open where all men can see them. He cannot deny he did it. The doctors’ mistakes are buried in the grave. The voters forget when the politician changes the alphabetical names of his failing projects. The trees and ivy may cover the architects’ failures. The lawyers can blame the Judge or the Jury. Unlike the clergyman, the engineer cannot blame his failures on the devil.
Moreover, if his works do not work, he is damned.

Speech (1951-11-07), "Engineers," Columbia University Engineering Campaign Center, New York City:

The engineer’s work is out in the open where all men can see it. If he makes a mistake, he cannot, like the doctor, bury it in a grave. He cannot, like the architect, obscure it by trees and ivy. He cannot, like the lawyer, blame it on the judge or jury. He cannot, like the politician, claim his constituents demanded it. Nor can he, like the public official, change the name of it and hope the voters will forget. Unlike the clergyman, he cannot blame it on the devil. Worse still, if his works do not work, he is damned.

For more discussion of possible precursors of this quotation, see: Quote Origin: The Architect Can Only Advise His Client to Plant Vines – Quote Investigator®. (To which end, see also Frank Lloyd Wright (1930).)

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]

Dave — Thu, 08 May 2014 14:47:42 +0000

He didn’t say “That’s weird.” He wouldn’t have said “That’s weird” if a flock of sheep had cycled past playing violins. It wasn’t the sort of thing a responsible engineer said.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)

WIST Quotations

Hoover, Herbert -- Memoirs: Years of Adventure, 1874–1920, ch. 11 “The Profession of Engineering” (1952)

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]