Kenneth Arrow Quotes

To use is necessary. And if you can't be used, then you're useless.

Any program is only as good as it is useful.

On Pragmatism: It's all very well in theory but it doesn't work in practice

A brute force solution that works is better than an elegant solution that doesn't work.

Reason is a bee, and exists only on what it makes; his usefulness takes the place of beauty.

Things that are complex are not useful, Things that are useful are simple.

Everything that I make I use.

There are two things to be considered with regard to any scheme. In the first place, Is it good in itself? In the second, Can it be easily put into practice?

I'm generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.

An invention has to make sense in the world it finishes in, not in the world it started.

I think that before you take on nation building in your mind's eye as to how it should be, you'd better have a clear understanding if this is doable and will work.

Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord.

The goodness of a thing created is the perfection of its fitness for the use which it serves. Now that use is either particular or universal.

The meaning or value of a thing consists of what it affords.

A farmer's horse is never lame, never unfit to go. Never throws out curbs, never breaks down before or behind. Like his master he is never showy. He does not paw and prance, and arch his neck, and bid the world admire his beauties...and when he is wanted, he can always do his work.

You can do anything you want, as long as it works.

Some are created for beauty, and some for use; and there are some which one can do without altogether.

To say it is not practical, one has to also admit that integration is not practical.

There are more useful systems developed in languages deemed awful than in languages praised for being beautiful - many more.

It is not difficult to know a thing; what is difficult is to know how to use what you know

The beautiful is as useful as the useful." He added after a moment’s silence, "Perhaps more so.

Some things that are true are not very useful.

You're building a tool, not a piece of art. Don't be blinded by the vision.

Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer - that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.