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Trying to make things work in government is sometimes like trying to sew a button on a custard pie.

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
Things
Button
Like
Pie
Buttons
Government
Sometimes
Trying
Work
Make
Custard

More quotes by Hyman Rickover

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Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.
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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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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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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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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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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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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.
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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How the hell are you supposed to know what God wants you to do with your life, eh?
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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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Those involved with practical reactors, humbled by their experiences, speak less and worry more.
Hyman Rickover
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Any one detail, followed through to its source, will usually reveal the general state of readiness of the whole organization.
Hyman Rickover
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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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Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.
Hyman Rickover
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The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.
Hyman Rickover
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Good ideas and innovations must be driven into existence by courage and patience.
Hyman Rickover
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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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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.
Hyman Rickover
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Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.
Hyman Rickover
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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