WIST Quotations

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)

Hutchins, Robert M. -- Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education (1954)

Dave — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 12:30:16 +0000

The facts are indispensable; they are not sufficient. To solve a problem it is necessary to think.

Robert M. Hutchins (1899-1977) American educator and educational philosopher
Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education (1954)

Wittgenstein, Ludwig -- Culture and Value, 1940 (1977) [tr. Winch (1980)]

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:06:58 +0000

If this stone won’t budge at present and is wedged in, move some of the other stones around it first.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) Austrian-English philosopher
Culture and Value, 1940 (1977) [tr. Winch (1980)]

Ackoff, Russell -- “The future of operational research is past,” The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol 30 (1979)

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 12:43:12 +0000

When a mess, which is a system of problems, is taken apart, it loses its essential properties and so does each of its parts. The behavior of a mess depends more on how the treatment of its parts interact than how they act independently of each other. A partial solution to a whole system of problems is better than whole solutions of each of its parts taken separately.

Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009) American organizational theorist, consultant, management scientist
“The future of operational research is past,” The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol 30 (1979)

Hubbard, Elbert -- A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)

Dave — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Don’t make excuses — make good!

Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)