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More than ambition, more than ability, it is rules that limit contribution rules are the lowest common denominator of human behavior. They are a substitute for rational thought.

Hyman Rickover

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Hyman Rickover
Age: 86 †
Born: 1900
Born: January 27
Died: 1986
Died: July 8
Admiral
Military Officer
Submariner
Makow Mazowiecki
Hyman George Rickover
Hyman Rickover
Rules
Denominator
Limits
Substitute
Behavior
Substitutes
Ability
Lowest
Common
Limit
Thought
Contribution
Human
Rational
Humans
Ambition

More quotes by Hyman Rickover

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Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.
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Knowing more about the public effects his work will have, the engineer ought to consider himself an officer of the court and keep the general interest always in mind.
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It is a human inclination to hope things will work out, despite evidence or doubt to the contrary. A successful manager must resist this temptation.
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It troubles me that we are so easily pressured by purveyors of technology into permitting so-called progress to alter our lives without attempting to control it-as if technology were an irrepressible force of nature to which we must meekly submit.
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Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.
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Any one detail, followed through to its source, will usually reveal the general state of readiness of the whole organization.
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We bury the men who do the nation's creative work under layers of administrators and mountains of memoranda. We shrivel creativity by endless frustrations.
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Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.
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Those involved with practical reactors, humbled by their experiences, speak less and worry more.
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Above all, we should bear in mind that our liberty is not an end in itself it is a means to win respect for human dignity for all classes of our society.
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All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom.
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What it takes to do a job will not be learned from management courses. It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude, and common sense — none of which can be taught in a classroom... Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.
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A system under which it takes three men to check what one is doing is not control it is systematic strangulation.
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A child is being properly educated only when he is learning to become independent of his parents.
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The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.
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When the men in Russia foul up, they are dismisses, sometimes losing their necks. But we protect those who fail and press them to the government bosom.
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I have the charisma of the chipmunk. I never have thought I was smart. I thought the people I dealt with were dumb.
Hyman Rickover
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To doubt one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man. Don't defend past actions what is right today may be wrong tomorrow. Don't be consistent consistency is the refuge of fools.
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How the hell are you supposed to know what God wants you to do with your life, eh?
Hyman Rickover
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I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, one man by himself cannot do the job. However, one man can make a difference. We must live for the future of the human race, and not for our own comfort or success.
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