Hyman Rickover Quotes

Quotes about:

• Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.

  Hyman Rickover

  Ignorance, Responsibility, Unique

  "The Rickover Effect". Book by Theodore Rockwell, 1992.

  72 Copy quote

• Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.

  Hyman Rickover

  Life, Motivational, Patience

  77 Copy quote

• 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.

  Hyman Rickover

  Mistake, Ignorance, Long

  68 Copy quote

• The man in charge must concern himself with details. If he does not consider them important, neither will his subordinates.

  Hyman Rickover

  Men, Important, Details

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  59 Copy quote

• 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.

  Hyman Rickover

  Jobs, Attitude, Organization

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  58 Copy quote

• Success teaches us nothing; only failure teaches.

  Hyman Rickover

  Success, Optimistic, Teach

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  51 Copy quote

• Optimism and stupidity are nearly synonymous.

  Hyman Rickover

  Stupid, Optimism, Stupidity

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  38 Copy quote

• When doing a job — any job — one must feel that he owns it, and act as though he will remain in that job forever.

  Hyman Rickover

  Jobs, Forever, Feels

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Selected congressional testimony and speeches by Adm. H.G. Rickover, 1953-81”

  44 Copy quote

• 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.

  Hyman Rickover

  Jobs, Believe, Fate

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Selected congressional testimony and speeches by Adm. H.G. Rickover, 1953-81”

  37 Copy quote

• A system under which it takes three men to check what one is doing is not control; it is systematic strangulation.

  Hyman Rickover

  Men, Three, Systematic

  US Naval Postgraduate School Address, March 16, 1954.

  12 Copy quote

• Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience. Once implemented they can be easily overturned or subverted through apathy or lack of follow-up, so a continuous effort is required.

  Hyman Rickover

  Leadership, Practice, Ideas

  63 Copy quote

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

  Hyman Rickover

  Work, Government, Pie

  36 Copy quote

• Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done

  Hyman Rickover

  Organization, People, Done

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  48 Copy quote

• I have the charisma of the chipmunk. I never have thought I was smart. I thought the people I dealt with were dumb.

  Hyman Rickover

  Smart, People, Dumb

  32 Copy quote

• 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

  Writing, Weakness, Pages

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Selected congressional testimony and speeches by Adm. H.G. Rickover, 1953-81”

  7 Copy quote

• All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom.

  Hyman Rickover

  Creativity, Ideas, Mind

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  34 Copy quote

• 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

  Successful, Work Out, Temptation

  "The Rickover Effect". Book by Theodore Rockwell, 1992.

  47 Copy quote

• The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.

  Hyman Rickover

  Devil, Details, Salvation

  "The Rickover Effect". Book by Theodore Rockwell, 1992.

  15 Copy quote

• Responsibility is a unique concept. It can only reside and inhere in a single individual. You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you. You may disclaim it, but you cannot divest yourself of it. If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.

  Hyman Rickover

  Unique, May, Individual

  39 Copy quote

• 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

  Men, Past, Consistency

  Address to US Naval Postgraduate School, March 16, 1954.

  23 Copy quote

• Any one detail, followed through to its source, will usually reveal the general state of readiness of the whole organization.

  Hyman Rickover

  Organization, Details, States

  "The Rickover Effect". Book by Theodore Rockwell, 1992.

  37 Copy quote

• I suggest that this is a good time to think soberly about our responsibilities to our descendents - those who will ring out the Fossil Fuel Age. Our greatest responsibility, as parents and as citizens, is to give America's youngsters the best possible education. We need the best teachers and enough of them to prepare our young people for a future immeasurably more complex than the present, and calling for ever larger numbers of competent and highly trained men and women.

  Hyman Rickover

  Teacher, Responsibility, Men

  "Energy Resources and Our Future". Remarks at a Banquet of the Annual Scientific Assembly of the Minnesota State Medical Association, www.resilience.org. May 14, 1957.

  32 Copy quote

• 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

  Ambition, Limits, Common

  Hyman Rickover's address to US Naval Postgraduate School, March 16, 1954.

  37 Copy quote

• Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.

  Hyman Rickover

  Atmosphere, Suggestions, Authority

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

  12 Copy quote

• Half-truths are like half a brick - they can be thrown farther.

  Hyman Rickover

  Half, Bricks, Half Truth

  33 Copy quote

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