In political institutions nearly everything that we now call an abuse, was once a remedy.
[Presque tout ce que nous appelons un abus fut un remède dans les institutions politiques.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 21 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 17, ¶ 8]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translation:In political institutions, almost everything we call an abuse was once a remedy.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1813 entry]
Quotations about:
unintended consequences
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
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)
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As is always the case, parenting is an exercise in unintended consequences.
Stacy Schiff (b. 1961) American editor, essayist, biographer
“Obama’s Mother Ann Dunham Shaped His Success,” Newsweek (2011-05-01)
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You make what seems a simple choice: choose a man or a job or a neighborhood — and what you have chosen is not a man or a job or a neighborhood, but a life.
War is one way of making decisions — but what’s decided may not be what anybody originally intended.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots
The law of unintended consequences governs all technological revolutions.
Joel L. Swerdlow (contemp.) American author, editor, researcher, educator
“Information REvolution,” National Geographic (Oct 1995)
In reactive problem solving we walk into the future facing the past — we move away from, rather than toward, something. This often results in unforeseen consequences that are more distasteful than the deficiencies removed.
Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009) American organizational theorist, consultant, management scientist
The Art of Problem Solving (1978)
The World is a very complex system. It is easy to have too simple a view of it, and it is easy to do harm and to make things worse under the impulse to do good and make things better.
Kenneth Ewart Boulding (1910-1993) American economist, educator, poet, philosopher
Speech, Friends Association for Higher Education Conference, Malone College (1986)
