Quotes by Laurence J. Peter

About Laurence J. Peter:

Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator and "hierarchiologist", best known to the general public for the formulation of the Peter Principle.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Slump, and the world slumps with you. Push, and you push alone.

Laurence J. Peter

Speak when you are angry - and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.

Laurence J. Peter

Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.

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 computer may be incompetent in itself--that is, unable to do the work for which it was designed. This kind of incompetence can never be eliminated, because the Peter Principle applies in the plants where computers are designed and manufactured.

Laurence J. Peter

A man doesn't know what he knows until he knows what he doesn't know.

Laurence J. Peter

The best intelligence test is what we do with our leisure.

Laurence J. Peter

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

Laurence J. Peter

America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation.

Laurence J. Peter

The seaman tells stories of winds, the ploughman of bulls; the soldier details his wounds, the shepherd his sheep.

Laurence J. Peter

If you don't know where you're going, you will probably end up somewhere else.

Laurence J. Peter

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

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

Laurence J. Peter

When in doubt or danger, run in circles, scream and shout.

Laurence J. Peter

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street.

Laurence J. Peter

Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.

Laurence J. Peter

Democracy is a process by which people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.

Laurence J. Peter

As a matter of fact is an expression that precedes many an expression that isn't.

Laurence J. Peter

Don't believe in miracles - depend on them.

Laurence J. Peter

If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?

Laurence J. Peter

Author Bio

  • NameLaurence J. Peter
  • DescriptionCanadian eductor
  • BornSeptember 16, 1919
  • DiedJanuary 12, 1990
  • CountryCanada
  • ProfessionPsychologist