Grace Hopper Quotes

Quotes about:

• The most damaging phrase in the language is: 'It's always been done that way.'

  Grace Hopper

  Education, Spiritual, Peer Pressure

  "Speech by SEC Staff: The Evolving Mutual Fund Landscape: Adapting to the Challenges of Change". Remarks by Paul F. Roye, www.sec.gov. December 06, 2001.

  255 Copy quote

• Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, 'We've always done it this way.' I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.

  Grace Hopper

  Change, Education, Running

  "The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper". The OCLC Newsletter, No. 167, www.cs.yale.edu. March/April 1987.

  231 Copy quote

• A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.

  Grace Hopper

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  1987 Address at Trinity College, Washington. Reported in Time, 22 Jun.

  163 Copy quote

• The only phrase I've ever disliked is, 'Why, we've always done it that way.' I always tell young people, 'Go ahead and do it. You can always apologize later.'

  Grace Hopper

  People, Done, Way

  159 Copy quote

• To me programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge.

  Grace Hopper

  Art, Important, Foundation

  152 Copy quote
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  It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

  Grace Hopper

  Forgiveness, Peace, Apology

  101 Copy quote

• No computer is ever going to ask a new, reasonable question. It takes trained people to do that.

  Grace Hopper

  People, Computer, Reasonable

  122 Copy quote

• You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership.

  Grace Hopper

  People, Management, Overboard

  "The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper". The OCLC Newsletter, No. 167, www.cs.yale.edu. March/April 1987.

  110 Copy quote

• One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.

  Grace Hopper

  Women, Experts, Measurement

  103 Copy quote

• Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down.
  Respect for one's superiors; care for one's crew.

  Grace Hopper

  Leadership, Loyalty, Two

  100 Copy quote

• I am now going to make you a gift that will stay with you the rest of your life. For the rest of your life, every time you say, "We've always done it that way," my ghost will appear and haunt you for twenty-four hours.

  Grace Hopper

  Life, Twenties, Done

  83 Copy quote

• The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's simply larger than it needs to be. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission

  Grace Hopper

  Glasses, Needs, Half

  83 Copy quote

• I've always been more interested in the future than in the past.

  Grace Hopper

  Past

  The Reader's Digest, p. 185, October 1994.

  81 Copy quote

• From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it.

  Grace Hopper

  Technology, Bugs, Computer

  Time, April 16, 1984.

  76 Copy quote

• Developing a compiler was a logical move; but in matters like this, you don't run against logic - you run against people who can't change their minds.

  Grace Hopper

  Running, Moving, People

  9 Copy quote

• I'm totally against women in combat, because we live in a culture and a society that imposes on every man the concept of women and children first...If you had a man and a woman trying to go through some dangerous woods, the man's instinct would be to protect the woman. Therefore you weaken the man.

  Grace Hopper

  Sex, Children, Men

  77 Copy quote

• If one ox could not do the job they did not try to grow a bigger ox, but used two oxen. When we need greater computer power, the answer is not to get a bigger computer, but . . .to build systems of computers and operate them in parallel.

  Grace Hopper

  Jobs, Two, Oxen

  66 Copy quote

• Some day, on the corporate balance sheet, there will be an entry which reads, "Information"; for in most cases, the information is more valuable than the hardware which processes it.

  Grace Hopper

  Balance, Information, Process

  69 Copy quote

• If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you've just proven a natural law!

  Grace Hopper

  Workout, Law, People

  69 Copy quote

• I've received many honors and I'm grateful for them; but I've already received the highest award I'll ever receive, and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy.

  Grace Hopper

  Military, Grateful, Awards

  Chips (Department of the Navy information technology magazine), October 1986.

  65 Copy quote

• You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington.

  Grace Hopper

  Inspirational, Leadership, Basketball

  "The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper". The OCLC Newsletter, No. 167, www.cs.yale.edu. March/April 1987.

  55 Copy quote

• I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. They told me computers could only do arithmetic.

  Grace Hopper

  Running, Computer, Arithmetic

  "Grace Hoppe: Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer". Book by Charlene W Billings, p. 74, 1989.

  57 Copy quote

• If you want my ghost just say ' We've always done it that way.' and i will haunt you for 24 hours.

  Grace Hopper

  Done, Want, Way

  64 Copy quote

• At any given moment, there is always a line representing what your boss will believe. If you step over it, you will not get your budget. Go as close to that line as you can.

  Grace Hopper

  Believe, Boss, Steps

  36 Copy quote

• It is easier to apologize than to get permission.

  Grace Hopper

  Apologizing, Easier, Permission

  Grace Murray Hopper, Chantal Mompoullan (1984*). “Voice of America Interviews with Eight American Women of Achievement”

  42 Copy quote

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