John Tukey Quotes

It is axiomatic in politics that the earlier one addresses a problem, the more the alternatives and the easier the solutions.

The important thing is the solution to the problem, not who gets the credit.

Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.

An approximate answer to the right problem is worth a good deal more than an exact answer to an approximate problem.

Effective management always means asking the right question.

Delay is preferable to error.

The remedy is worse than the disease.

You can't run a business or anything else on a theory.

An approximate answer to the right question is worth far more than a precise answer to the wrong one.

Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers.

Don't fight the problem, decide it.

There is no silver bullet. I know people in Washington want grand solutions for everything.

It is easy to say that something should be done. However to say what, when and how is more difficult.

Organization can never be a substitute for initiative and for judgment.

No government at any level has all the answers.

It is less important to find solutions than scapegoats.

There's a remedy for everything except death.

As President I'll make mistakes because I'm going to do things ... and people who do things err.

When you're President you have to make a lot of tough decisions. You have to keep lining them up and making them.

Work all by counsel and you shall not rue.

Focusing on the right question is very different from having the right answers.

Wisdom ofttimes consists of knowing what to do next.

Have you already in your mind a plan wholly or partially formed? If you have, prosecute it without interference from me. If you have not, please inform me, so that I, incompetent as I may be, can try and assist you in the formation of some plan for the army.

Competing pressures tempt one to believe that an issue deferred is a problem avoided. More often it is a crisis invited.

Whenever you can, count.