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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.

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
Men
Wrong
Civilized
Action
Consistent
Past
Actions
Today
Mark
May
Fool
Consistency
Firsts
Tomorrow
Refuge
First
Principles
Fools
Right
Doubt
Defend

More quotes by Hyman Rickover

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Those involved with practical reactors, humbled by their experiences, speak less and worry more.
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Good ideas and innovations must be driven into existence by courage and patience.
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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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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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Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.
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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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Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.
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Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done
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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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Trying to make things work in government is sometimes like trying to sew a button on a custard pie.
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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.
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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 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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Nothing so sharpens the thought process as writing down one's arguments. Weaknesses overlooked in oral discussion become painfully obvious on the written page.
Hyman Rickover
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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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A child is being properly educated only when he is learning to become independent of his parents.
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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The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.
Hyman Rickover
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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.
Hyman Rickover
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How the hell are you supposed to know what God wants you to do with your life, eh?
Hyman Rickover