Laurence J. Peter > Quotes

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
― Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle

“The problem with temptation is that you may not get another chance.”
― Laurence Peter

“Aristotle's axiom: The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
― Laurence J. Peter, Peter's People and Their Marvelous Ideas

“Speak when you are angry, and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.”
― Lawrence Peter

“A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“A censor is an expert in cutting remarks. A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.”
― Laurence Peter

“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle

“An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“If two wrongs don't make a right, try three.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“You can always tell a real friend; when you've made a fool of yourself, he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Before publishers' blurbs were invented, authors had to make their reputations by writing.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Two things reduce prejudice: education and laughter.”
― Dr. Laurence J. Peter

“Good followers do not become good leaders.”
― Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong

“Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong

“America is a country that doesn't know where it is going but is determined to set a speed record getting there.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“You don't need to take a persons advice to make him feel good, just ask him for it.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“A man doesn't know what he knows until he knows what he doesn't know.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“The incompetent with nothing to do can still make a mess of it.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Every girl should use what Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“Humility is the embarrassment you feel when you tell people how wonderful you are.”
― Laurence J. Peter

“The man who is always waving the flag usually waives what it stands for.”
― Laurence J. Peter