Quotes4study

Plan for the future because that's where you are going to spend the rest of your life.

Mark Twain

Hildebrant's Principle:

    If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Fortune Cookie

I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are<b> going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where<b> you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.

C. JoyBell C.

O believer, in your walk through the world to-day, be strengthened, be comforted, be inspired, by the spectacle of the Captain of your salvation thus going up to Jerusalem! And remember, in all those apparently _downward_ passages of life, where sorrow, and it may be death, lie before you, that all such descents, made or endured in the Spirit of Jesus, are really _upgoing_ steps, leading you to the mount of God and the resurrection glory.--_J. B. Stratton._

Various     Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

If you don't have time to do it right, where<b> are<b> you<b> going to find the time

to do it over?

THE WRATH TO COME. — MATTHEW 3:7 I t is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself—to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon His Savior’s head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible it is to witness the approach of a tempest—to note the forewarnings of the storm; to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it grows black, and to find the sun obscured, and the heavens angry and frowning! How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane, to wait in terrible apprehension till the wind rushes forth in fury, tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling-places of man! And yet, sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have fallen as yet, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around<b> you, but God’s tempest is gathering its dread artillery. So far the water-floods are dammed up by mercy, but the floodgates will soon be opened: The thunderbolts of God<b> are still in His storehouse, the tempest is coming, and how awful will that moment be when God, robed in vengeance, shall march forth in fury! Where, where, where, O sinner, will you hide your head, or where will you run to? May the hand of mercy lead you now to Christ! He is freely set before you in the Gospel: His pierced side is the place of shelter. You know your need of Him; believe in Him, cast yourself upon Him, and then the fury shall be past forever.

Charles H. Spurgeon

February 26 Inferior Misgivings about Jesus Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with. John 4:11 “I am impressed with the wonder of what God says, but He cannot expect me really to live it out in the details of my life!” When it comes to facing Jesus Christ on His own merits, our attitude is one of pious superiority—“Your ideals are high and they impress us, but in touch with actual things, it cannot be done.” Each of us thinks about Jesus in this way in some particular. These misgivings about Jesus start from the amused questions put to us when we talk of our transactions with God—“Where<b> are<b> you<b> going to get your money from? How are<b> you<b> going to be looked after?” Or they start from ourselves when we tell Jesus that our case is a bit too hard for Him. “It is all very well to say ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a man must live, and Jesus has nothing to draw with—nothing whereby to give us these things.” Beware of the pious fraud in you which says—“I have no misgivings about Jesus, only about myself.” None of us ever had misgivings about ourselves; we know exactly what we cannot do, but we do have misgivings about Jesus. We are rather hurt at the idea that He can do what we cannot. My misgivings arise from the fact that I ransack my own person to find out how He will be able to do it. My questions spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, let me bring them to the light and confess them—“Lord, I have had misgivings about Thee, I have not believed in Thy wits apart from my own; I have not believed in Thine Almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.

Oswald Chambers

It is only when the mind, which has taken shelter behind the walls of self-protection, frees itself from its own creations that there can be that exquisite reality. After all, these walls of self-protection are the creations of the mind which, conscious of its insufficiency, builds these walls of protection, and behind them takes shelter. One has built up these barriers unconsciously or consciously, and one’s mind is so crippled, bound, held, that action brings greater conflict, further disturbances. So the mere search for the solution of your problems is not going to free the mind from creating further problems. As long as this center of self-protectiveness, born of insufficiency, exists, there must be disturbances, tremendous sorrow, and pain; and you cannot free the mind of sorrow by disciplining it not to be insufficient. That is, you cannot discipline yourself, or be influenced by conditions and environment, in order not to be shallow. You say to yourself, “I am shallow; I recognize the fact, and how am I going to get rid of it?” I say, do not seek to get rid of it, which is merely a process of substitution, but become conscious, become aware of what is causing this insufficiency. You cannot compel it; you cannot force it; it cannot be influenced by an ideal, by a fear, by the pursuit of enjoyment and powers. You can find out the cause of insufficiency only through awareness. That is, by looking into environment and piercing into its significance there will be revealed the cunning subtleties of self-protection. After all, self-protection is the result of insufficiency, and as the mind has been trained, caught up in its bondage for centuries, you cannot discipline it, you cannot overcome it. If you do, you lose the significance of the deceits and subtleties of thought and emotion behind which mind has taken shelter; and to discover these subtleties you must become conscious, aware. Now to be aware is not to alter. Our mind is accustomed to alteration which is merely modification, adjustment, becoming disciplined to a condition; whereas if you >are aware, you will discover the full significance of the environment. Therefore there is no modification, but entire freedom from that environment. Only when all these walls of protection are destroyed in the flame of awareness, in which there is no modification or alteration or adjustment, but complete understanding of the significance of environment with all its delicacies and subtleties—only through that understanding is there the eternal; because in that there is no “you” functioning as a self-protective focus. But as long as that self-protecting focus which you call the “I” exists, there must be confusion, there must be disturbance, disharmony, and conflict. You cannot destroy these hindrances by disciplining yourself or by following a system or by imitating a pattern; you can understand them with all their complications only through the full awareness of mind and heart. Then there is an ecstasy, there is that living movement of truth, which is not an end, not a culmination, but an ever-creative living, an ecstasy which cannot be described, because all description must destroy it. So long as you >are not vulnerable to truth, there is no ecstasy, there is no immortality.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Will you tell me where you are going, you wretch?"

Victor Hugo     Les Miserables

"You are a native of Marseilles, and a sailor, and yet you do not know where you are going?"

Alexandre Dumas, Pere     The Count of Monte Cristo

On a morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turned back time,

>You >go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime.

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain.

Don't bother asking for explanations, she'll just tell you that she came

In the Year of the Cat.

She doesn't give you time for questions, as she locks up your >arm in hers,

And you follow 'till your sense of which direction completely disappears.

By the blue-tiled walls near the market stall there's a hidden door she

    leads you to.

These days, she say, I feel my life just like a river running through

The Year of the Cat.

Well, she looks at you so coolly,

And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea.

She comes in incense and patchouli,

So you take her to find what's waiting inside

The Year of the Cat.

Well, morning comes and you're still with her, but the bus and the tourists

    are >gone,

And you've thrown away your choice and lost your ticket, so you have to stay on.

But the drum-beat strains of the night remain in the rhythm of the new-born day.

>You know some time you're bound to leave her, but for now you're going to stay

In the Year of the Cat.

        -- Al Stewart, "Year of the Cat"

Fortune Cookie

After his legs had been broken in an accident, Mr. Miller sued for damages,

claming that he was crippled and would have to spend the rest of his life

in a wheelchair.  Although the insurance-company doctor testified that his

bones had healed properly and that he was fully capable  of walking, the

judge decided for the plaintiff and awarded him $500,000.

    When he was wheeled into the insurance office to collect his check,

Miller was confronted by several executives.  "You're not getting away with

this, Miller," one said.  "We're going to watch you day and night.  If you</p>

take a single step, you'll not only repay the damages but stand trial for

perjury.  Here's the money.  What do you intend to do with it?"

    "My wife and I are<b> going to travel," Miller replied.  "We'll go to

Stockholm, Berlin, Rome, Athens and, finally, to a place called Lourdes --

>where, gentlemen, you'll see yourselves one hell of a miracle."

Fortune Cookie

>Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.  Being

true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the

mark of a fake messiah.  The simplest questions are the most profound.

>Where were you born?  Where is your home?  Where<b> are<b> you<b> going?  What

>are<b> you doing?  Think about these once in awhile and watch your answers

change.

        -- Messiah's Handbook : Reminders for the Advanced Soul

Fortune Cookie

One day the King decided that he would force all his subjects to tell the

truth.  A gallows was erected in front of the city gates.  A herald announced,

"Whoever would enter the city must first answer the truth to a question

which will be put to him."  Nasrudin was first in line.  The captain of the

guard asked him, "Where<b> are<b> you<b> going?  Tell the truth -- the alternative

is death by hanging."

    "I am going," said Nasrudin, "to be hanged on that gallows."

    "I don't believe you."

    "Very well, if I have told a lie, then hang me!"

    "But that would make it the truth!"

    "Exactly," said Nasrudin, "your truth."

Fortune Cookie

All the big corporations depreciate their possessions, and you can, too,

provided you use them for business purposes.  For example, if you subscribe

to the Wall Street Journal, a business-related newspaper, you can deduct the

cost of your house, because, in the words of U.S. Supreme Court Chief

Justice Warren Burger in a landmark 1979 tax decision: "Where else are<b> you</p> >going to read the paper?  Outside?  What if it rains?"

        -- Dave Barry, "Sweating Out Taxes"

Fortune Cookie

[District Attorneys] learn in District Attorney School that there are</p>

two sure-fire ways to get a lot of favorable publicity:

(1) Go down and raid all the lockers in the local high school and

    confiscate 53 marijuana cigarettes and put them in a pile and hold

    a press conference where<b> you announce that they have a street value

    of $850 million.  These raids never fail, because ALL high schools,

    including brand-new, never-used ones, have at least 53 marijuana

    cigarettes in the lockers.  As far as anyone can tell, the locker

    factory puts them there.

(2) Raid an "adult book store" and hold a press conference where<b> you</p>

    announce you >are charging the owner with 850 counts of being a

    piece of human sleaze.  This also never fails, because you always

    get a conviction.  A juror at a pornography trial is not about to

    state for the record that he finds nothing obscene about a movie

    where actors engage in sexual activities with live snakes and a

    fire extinguisher.  He is going to convict the bookstore owner, and

    vote for the death penalty just to make sure nobody gets the wrong

    impression.

        -- Dave Barry, "Pornography"

Fortune Cookie

Brandy Davis, an outfielder and teammate of mine with the Pittsburgh Pirates,

is my choice for team captain.  Cincinnati was beating us 3-1, and I led

off the bottom of the eighth with a walk.  The next hitter banged a hard

single to right field.  Feeling the wind at my back, I rounded second and

kept going, sliding safely into third base.

    With runners at first and third, and home-run hitter Ralph Kiner at

bat, our manager put in the fast Brandy Davis to run for the player at first.

Even with Kiner hitting and a change to win the game with a home run, Brandy

took off for second and made it.  Now we had runners at second and third.

    I'm standing at third, knowing I'm not going anywhere, and see Brandy

start to take a lead.  All of a sudden, here he comes.  He makes a great slide

into third, and I scream, "Brandy, where<b> are<b> you<b> going?"  He looks up, and

shouts, "Back to second if I can make it."

        -- Joe Garagiola, "It's Anybody's Ball Game"

Fortune Cookie

If you don't have time to do it right, where<b> are<b> you<b> going to find the time

to do it over?

Fortune Cookie

    On this morning in August when I was 13, my mother sent us out pick

tomatoes.  Back in April I'd have killed for a fresh tomato, but in August

they are no more rare or wonderful than rocks.  So I picked up one and threw

it at a crab apple tree, where it made a good *splat*, and then threw a tomato

at my brother.  He whipped one back at me.  We ducked down by the vines,

heaving tomatoes at each other.  My sister, who was a good person, said,

"You're going to get it."  She bent over and kept on picking.

    What a target!  She was 17, a girl with big hips, and bending over,

she looked like the side of a barn.

    I picked up a tomato so big it sat on the ground.  It looked like it

had sat there a week.  The underside was brown, small white worms lived in it,

and it was very juicy.  I stood up and took aim, and went into the windup,

when my mother at the kitchen window called my name in a sharp voice.  I had

to decide quickly.  I decided.

    A rotten Big Boy hitting the target is a memorable sound, like a fat

man doing a belly-flop.  With a whoop and a yell the tomatoee came after

faster than I knew she could run, and grabbed my shirt and was about to brain

me when Mother called her name in a sharp voice.  And my sister, who was a

>good person, obeyed and let go -- and burst into tears.  I guess she knew that

the pleasure of obedience is pretty thin compared with the pleasure of hearing

a rotten tomato hit someone in the rear end.

        -- Garrison Keillor, "Lake Wobegon Days"

Fortune Cookie

When you >are<b> young, you enjoy a sustained illusion that sooner or later

something marvelous is going to happen, that you >are<b> going to transcend

>your parents' limitations...  At the same time, you feel sure that in all

the wilderness of possibility; in all the forests of opinion, there is a

vital something that can be known -- known and grasped.  That we will

eventually know it, and convert the whole mystery into a coherent

narrative.  So that then one's true life -- the point of everything --

will emerge from the mist into a pure light, into total comprehension.

But it isn't like that at all.  But if it isn't, where did the idea come

from, to torture and unsettle us?

        -- Brian Aldiss, "Helliconia Summer"

Fortune Cookie

Men's skin is different from women's skin.  It is usually bigger, and

it has more snakes tattooed on it.  Also, if you examine a woman's skin

very closely, inch by inch, starting at her shapely ankles, then gently

tracing the slender curve of her calves, then moving up to her ...

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To make room for news articles about important world events

such as agriculture, we're going to delete the next few square feet of the

woman's skin.  Thank you.]

... until finally the two of you >are lying there, spent, smoking your</p>

cigarettes, and suddenly it hits you: Human skin is actually made up of

billions of tiny units of protoplasm, called "cells"!  And what is even more

interesting, the ones on the outside are all dying!  This is a fact.  Your</p>

skin is like an aggressive modern corporation, where the older veteran

cells, who have finally worked their way to the top and obtained offices

with nice views, are constantly being shoved out the window head first,

without so much as a pension plan, by younger hotshot cells moving up from

below.

        -- Dave Barry, "Saving Face"

Fortune Cookie

There are two jazz musicians who are great buddies.  They hang out and play

together for years, virtually inseparable.  Unfortunately, one of them is

struck by a truck and killed.  About a week later his friend wakes up in

the middle of the night with a start because he can feel a presence in the

room.  He calls out, "Who's there?  Who's there?  What's going on?"

    "It's me -- Bob," replies a faraway voice.

    Excitedly he sits up in bed.  "Bob!  Bob!  Is that you?  Where<b> are</p> >you?"

    "Well," says the voice, "I'm in heaven now."

    "Heaven!  You're in heaven!  That's wonderful!  What's it like?"

    "It's great, man.  I gotta tell you, I'm jamming up here every day.

I'm playing with Bird, and 'Trane, and Count Basie drops in all the time!

Man it is smokin'!"

    "Oh, wow!" says his friend. "That sounds fantastic, tell me more,

tell me more!"

    "Let me put it this way," continues the voice.  "There's good news

and bad news.  The good news is that these guys are in top form.  I mean

I have *never* heard them sound better.  They are *wailing* up here."

    "The bad news is that God has this girlfriend that sings..."

Fortune Cookie

    This is where the bloodthirsty license agreement is supposed to go,

explaining that Interactive Easyflow is a copyrighted package licensed for

use by a single person, and sternly warning you not to pirate copies of it

and explaining, in detail, the gory consequences if you do.

    We know that you >are an honest person, and are not going to go<b> around</p>

pirating copies of Interactive Easyflow; this is just as well with us since

we worked hard to perfect it and selling copies of it is our only method of

making anything out of all the hard work.

    If, on the other hand, you >are one of those few people who do go</p> >around pirating copies of software you probably aren't going to pay much

attention to a license agreement, bloodthirsty or not.  Just keep your doors

locked and look out for the HavenTree attack shark.

        -- License Agreement for Interactive Easyflow

Fortune Cookie

I went to my first computer conference at the New York Hilton about 20

years ago.  When somebody there predicted the market for microprocessors

would eventually be in the millions, someone else said, "Where<b> are they

all going to go? It's not like you need a computer in every doorknob!"

Years later, I went back to the same hotel.  I noticed the room keys had

been replaced by electronic cards you slide into slots in the doors.

There was a computer in every doorknob.

        -- Danny Hillis

Fortune Cookie

 

ACTON'S LAW

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

ALBRECHT'S LAW

Social innovations tend to the level of minimum tolerable well-being.

ALLEN'S (or CANN'S) AXIOM

When all else fails, read the instructions.

BOREN'S FIRST LAW

When in doubt, mumble.

BOVE'S THEOREM

The remaining work to finish in order to reach your >goal increases as the deadline approaches.

BOWIE'S THEOREM

If an experiment works, you must be using the wrong equipment.

BROOK'S LAW

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.

CANADA BILL JONES' MOTTO

It's morally wrong to allow naive end users to keep their money.

CANN'S (or ALLEN'S) AXIOM

When all else fails, read the instructions.

CARLSON'S CONSOLATION

Nothing is ever a complete failure; it can always serve as a bad example.

CLARKE'S THIRD LAW

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

COLE'S LAW

Thinly sliced cabbage.

COHN'S LAW

The more time you spend in reporting on what you >are doing, the less time you have to do anything. Stability is achieved when you spend all your time reporting on the nothing you >are doing.

CONWAY'S LAW

In any organization there will always be one person who knows what is going on. This person must be fired.

LAW OF CONTINUITY

Experiments should be reproducible. They should all fail in the same way.

CORRESPONDENCE COROLLARY

An experiment may be considered a success if no more than half of your data must be discarded to obtain correspondence with your theory.

CROPP'S LAW

The amount of work done varies inversely with the amount of time spent in the office.

CUTLER WEBSTER'S LAW

There are two sides to every argument, unless a person is personally involved, in which case there is only one.

DEADLINE-DAN'S DEMO DEMONSTRATION

The higher the "higher-ups" are who've come to see your demo, the lower your chances are of giving a successful one.

DEMIAN'S OBSERVATION

There is always one item on the screen menu that is mislabeled and should read "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE".

DENNISTON'S LAW

Virtue is its own punishment.

DOW'S LAW

In a hierarchical organization, the higher the level, the greater the confusion.

DR. CALIGARI'S COME-BACK

A bad sector disk error occurs only after you've done several hours of work without performing a backup.

ESTRIDGE'S LAW

No matter how large and standardized the marketplace is, IBM can redefine it.

FINAGLE'S LAWS

1) Once a job is fouled up, anything done to improve it makes it worse.

2) No matter what results are expected, someone is always willing to fake it.

3) No matter what the result, someone is always eager to misinterpret it.

4) No matter what occurs, someone believes it happened according to his pet theory.

FINAGLE'S RULES

1) To study an application best, understand it thoroughly before you start.

2) Always keep a record of data. It indicates you've been working.

3) Always draw your curves, then plot the reading.

4) In case of doubt, make it sound convincing.

5) Program results should always be reproducible. They should all fail in the same way.

6) Do not believe in miracles. Rely on them.

FINSTER'S LAW

A closed mouth gathers no feet.

FIRST RULE OF HISTORY

History doesn't repeat itself --- historians merely repeat each other.

FRANKLIN'S PARAPHRASE OF POPE'S LAW

Praised be the end user who expects nothing, for he/she will never be disappointed.

GILB'S LAWS OF UNRELIABILITY

1) At the source of every error which is blamed on the computer you will find at least two human errors, including the error of blaming it on the computer.

2) Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.

3) Undetectable errors are infinite in variety, in contrast to detectable errors, which by definition are limited.

4) Investment in reliability will increase until it exceeds the probable cost of errors, or until someone insists on getting some useful work done.

GLYME'S FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

THE GOLDEN RULE

Whoever has the gold makes the rules.

>GOLD'S LAW

If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

>GORDON'S FIRST LAW

If a research project is not worth doing at all, it is not worth doing well.

>GOVERNMENT'S LAW

There is an exception to all laws.

GREEN'S LAW OF DEBATE

Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about.

GUMMIDGES'S LAW

The amount of expertise varies in inverse proportion to the number of statements understood by the general public.

GUMPERSON'S LAW

The probability of a given event occurring is inversely proportional to its desirability.

HANLON'S RAZOR

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

HARP'S COROLLARY TO ESTRIDGE'S LAW

>Your "IBM PC-compatible" computer grows more incompatible with every passing moment.

HARRISON'S POSTULATE

For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.

HELLER'S LAW

The first myth of management is that it exists.

HINDS' LAW OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

1) Any given program, when running, is obsolete.

2) If a program is useful, it will have to be changed.

3) If a program is useless, it will have to be documented.

4) Any given program will expand to fill all available memory.

5) The value of a program is proportional to the weight of its output.

6) Program complexity grows until it exceeds the capability of the programmer who must maintain it.

7) Make it possible for programmers to write programs in English, andyou will find that programmers cannot write in English.

HOARE'S LAW OF LARGE PROGRAMS

Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.

HOPPER'S AXIOM (Admiral Grace Hopper, USN, who discovered the first computer "bug" in the 1940's---an actual insect)

It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

HUBBARD'S LAW

Don't take life too seriously; you won't get out of it alive.

JENKINSON'S LAW

It won't work.

JOHNSON-LAIRD'S LAW

Toothaches tend to start on Saturday night.

LARKINSON'S LAW

All laws are basically false.

THE LAST ONE'S LAW OF PROGRAM GENERATORS

A program generator creates programs that are more "buggy" than the program generator.

LIEBERMAN'S LAW

Everybody lies; but it doesn't matter since nobody listens.

LYNCH'S LAW

When the going gets tough, everyone leaves.

MASON'S FIRST LAW OF SYNERGISM

The one day you'd sell your soul for something, souls are a glut.

MAY'S LAW

The quality of correlation is inversely proportional to the density of control. (The fewer the data points, the smoother the curves.)

MENCKEN'S LAW

There is always an easy answer to every human problem --- neat, plausible, and wrong.

MESKIMEN'S LAW

There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.

MUIR'S LAW

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

MURPHY'S LAWS

1) If anything can go wrong, it will (and at the worst possible moment).

2) Nothing is as easy as it looks.

3) Everything takes longer than you think it will.

MURPHY'S FOURTH LAW

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

MURPHY'S LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS

1) You can't win,

2) You can't break even,

3) And you can't get out of the game.

ALSO: Things get worse under pressure.

NINETY-NINETY RULE OF PROJECT SCHEDULES

The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent.

NIXON'S THEOREM

The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone he can blame it on.

NOLAN'S PLACEBO

An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance.

OLIVER'S LAW OF LOCATION

No matter where<b> you >are, there you >are.

O'REILLY'S LAW OF THE KITCHEN

Cleanliness is next to impossible.

OSBORN'S LAW

Variables won't, constants aren't.

O'TOOLE'S COMMENTARY ON MURPHY'S LAW

Murphy was an optimist.

PARKINSON'S LAW

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

PARKINSON'S LAW (MODIFIED)

The components you have will expand to fill the available space.

PEER'S LAW

The solution to a problem changes the problem.

PETER'S PRINCIPLE

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

THE LAW OF THE PERVERSITY OF NATURE

>You cannot determine beforehand which side of the bread to butter.

PUDDER'S LAW

Anything that begins well will end badly. [Note: The converse of Pudder's law is not true.]

RHODE'S COROLLARY TO HOARE'S LAW

Inside every complex and unworkable program is a useful routine struggling to be free.

ROBERT E. LEE'S TRUCE

Judgment comes from experience; experience comes from poor judgment.

RUDIN'S LAW

In a crisis that forces a choice to be made among alternative courses of action, people tend to choose the worst possible course.

RULE OF ACCURACY

When working toward the solution of a problem it always helps you to know the answer.

RYAN'S LAW

Make three correct guesses consecutively and you will establish yourself as an expert.

SATTINGER'S LAW

It works better if you plug it in.

SAUSAGE PRINCIPLE

People who love sausage and respect the law should watch neither being made.

SHAW'S PRINCIPLE

Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.

SNAFU EQUATIONS

1) Given any problem containing N equations, there will be N+1 unknowns.

2) The object or bit of information most needed will be the least available.

3) The device requiring service or adjustment will be the least accessible.

4) Interchangeable devices aren't.

5) In any human endeavor, once you have exhausted all possibilities and fail, there will be one solution, simple and obvious, highly visible to everyone else.

6) Badness comes in waves.

STEWART'S LAW OF RETROACTION

It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

THOREAU'S THEORIES OF ADAPTATION

1) After months of training and you finally understand all of a program's commands, a revised version of the program arrives with an all-new command structure.

2) After designing a useful routine that gets around a familiar "bug" in the system, the system is revised, the "bug" taken away, and you're left with a useless routine.

3) Efforts in improving a program's "user friendliness" invariably lead to work in improving user's "computer literacy".

4) That's not a "bug", that's a feature!

THYME'S LAW

Everything goes wrong at once.

THE LAW OF THE TOO SOLID GOOF</p>

In any collection of data, the figures that are obviously correct beyond all need of checking are the figures that contain the errors.

Corollary 1: No one you ask for help will see the error either.

Corollary 2: Any nagging intruder, who stops by with unsought advice, will spot it immediately.

UNNAMED LAW

If it happens, it must be possible.

WEILER'S LAW

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do the work.

WEINBERG'S COROLLARY

An expert is a person who avoids the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy.

WEINBERG'S LAW

If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

WHITEHEAD'S LAW

The obvious answer is always overlooked.

WILCOX'S LAW

A pat on the back is only a few centimeters from a kick in the pants.

WOOD'S AXIOM

As soon as a still-to-be-finished computer task becomes a life-or-death situation, the power fails.

WOODWARD'S LAW

A theory is better than its explanation.

ZYMURGY'S FIRST LAW OF EVOLVING SYSTEM DYNAMICS

Once you open a can of worms, the only way to re-can them is to use a larger can.

Fortune Cookie

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