Michael Perlis Quotes

He's so snobbish he has an unlisted zip-code.

I think we could all be a bit more elitist.

'Elitist' doesn't need to mean wealthy and conservative; it can also mean specialised and rarefied, and that's no bad thing.

I don't believe in honors - it bothers me. Honors bother: honors is epaulettes; honors is uniforms. My papa brought me up this way.

The locker rooms that Donald Trump is in are not at the cut-rate gym with the broken treadmills - they are at his swish golf clubs. They are places of stature.

I'm not some schmuck they just hired and threw down in the Performance Center and gave him an entrance or anything that like. I've been around enough and have enough experience; I know what I'm doing pretty much.

If it's for everyone, it's not exclusive.

I had worked hard my entire career to establish myself as a leader. But I wasn't a leader until I was perceived as one.

Greatest misconception about Wikipedia: We aren’t democratic. Our readers edit the entries, but we’re actually quite snobby. The core community appreciates when someone is knowledgeable, and thinks some people are idiots and shouldn’t be writing.

Trust the expert. -Experto credite

Abstraction and luxury are the guard dogs of the upper class.

Hit the ball up to the hole... You meet a better class of people up there.

Trust one who has gone through it.

Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.

I am not a scientist, but I don't need to be.

An expert is just somebody from out of town with slides.

Writing a book makes you an expert in the field. At the very least, when you hand someone a book you wrote, it's more impressive than handing a business card.

Authority's for sharing only when the sharer is sure of his (or hers).

It always takes a man that never made much at any thing to tell you how to run your business, though. Like these college professors without a whole pair of socks to his name, telling you how to make a million in ten years, and a woman that couldn't even get a husband can always tell you how to raise a family.

There is a reason you don’t know all the things I know. -Marcus Eaton

The only thing a title can buy is a little time-either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.

Shortridge High School was an elitist high school. In a way it was a scandal because you could go there no matter where you lived, if you could get there. It was for over-achievers. It was for people who were going to college. So we were very special and we were hated for being ritzy.

If I see Danny Hillis quoted as an expert on MPP one more time, I'm going to puke.

Excellence resides in quality, not in quantity. The best is always few and rare; much lowers value.

Reputation is the road to power