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.
¶ (Attributed)
Quotations by ...
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.
¶ (Attributed)
Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents' shortcomings.
¶ (Attributed)
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.
¶ (Attributed)
Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car.
¶ (Attributed)
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
¶ Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)
Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.
¶ Peter’s Almanac, entry for 24 Sep. (1982).
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
¶ The Peter Principle, ch. 1 (1969)
Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
¶ The Peter Principle (1969)
Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear, but forgetting where you heard it.
¶ The Peter Principle (1969)
If you don't know where you're going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
¶ The Peter Principle (1969)
About WIST
WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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