“For almost every principle one can find an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle.”

Simon, Herbert A. "The proverbs of administration." Public Administration Review 6.1 (1946): 53-67.
1940s-1950s
Context: Most of the propositions that make up the body of administrative theory today share, unfortunately, this defect of proverbs. For almost every principle one can find an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update March 14, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "For almost every principle one can find an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle." by Herbert A. Simon?
Herbert A. Simon photo
Herbert A. Simon 58
American political scientist, economist, sociologist, and p… 1916–2001

Related quotes

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar photo

“Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as governing principle.”

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) Father of republic India, champion of human rights, father of India's Constitution, polymath, revolutionary…

Political Science for Civil Services Main Examination (2010)

“Looking back to data, we can see if the consequences are plausible; looking forward to theory, we can see if general principles are suggested.”

John H. Holland (1929–2015) US university professor

Source: Hidden Order - How Adaptation Builds Complexity (1995), Ch 3. Echoing Emergence, p. 97

Kofi Annan photo

“The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being. It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples.”

Kofi Annan (1938–2018) 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations

Nobel lecture (2001)
Context: The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being. It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples. Through this universal, indispensable instrument of human progress, States can serve the interests of their citizens by recognizing common interests and pursuing them in unity.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah photo

“We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.”

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948) Founder and 1st Governor General of Pakistan

Address to the Constituent Assembly (1947)
Context: You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England, conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.

John F. Kennedy photo

“This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Radio and television report to the American people on civil rights (11 June 1963)]
1963, Civil Rights Address

Peter F. Drucker photo

“Unless the power of the corporation can be organized on an accepted principle of legitimacy, it will… be taken over by a Central government…”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The Future of Industrial Man (1942), p. 96

Robert H. Jackson photo
Haruki Murakami photo

Related topics