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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
Contribution
Thought
Human
Rational
Humans
Ambition
Denominator
Rules
Substitute
Limits
Substitutes
Behavior
Lowest
Ability
Limit
Common

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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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The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.
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Those involved with practical reactors, humbled by their experiences, speak less and worry more.
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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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Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.
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As a guide to engineering ethics, I should like to commend to you a liberal adaptation of the injunction contained in the oath of Hippocrates that the professional man do nothing that will harm his client.
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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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I have a son. I love my son. I want everything that I do to be so safe that I would be happy to have my son operating it. That's my fundamental rule.
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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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Good ideas and innovations must be driven into existence by courage and patience.
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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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Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.
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Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done
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Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Lean from others' mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself.
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How the hell are you supposed to know what God wants you to do with your life, eh?
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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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I have the charisma of the chipmunk. I never have thought I was smart. I thought the people I dealt with were dumb.
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Trying to make things work in government is sometimes like trying to sew a button on a custard pie.
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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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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.
Hyman Rickover