“Simple minds, presumably, are the easiest to manage.”

Source: The Affluent Society (1958), Chapter 19, Section V, p. 218

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Simple minds, presumably, are the easiest to manage." by John Kenneth Galbraith?
John Kenneth Galbraith photo
John Kenneth Galbraith 207
American economist and diplomat 1908–2006

Related quotes

Russell L. Ackoff photo

“The only managers that have simple problems have simple minds.”

Russell L. Ackoff (1919–2009) Scientist

Ackoff (2007) as cited in: Stefan Stern (2009) "Fond farewell to a brilliant thinker". in: Financial Times, November 9, 2009.
2000s
Context: The only problems that have simple solutions are simple problems. The only managers that have simple problems have simple minds. Problems that arise in organisations are almost always the product of interactions of parts, never the action of a single part. Complex problems do not have simple solutions.

Otto Hahn photo

“Usually, a discovery is not made in the easiest but on a complicated way; the simple cases show up only later.”

Otto Hahn (1879–1968) German chemist

Gewönlich wird eine Entdeckung nicht auf den einfachsten, sondern auf einem komplizierten Wege gemacht; die einfachen Fälle zeigen sich erst später.
Vom Radiothor zur Uranspaltung. Eine wissenschaftliche Selbstbiographie (1962).

Ian McCulloch photo
Isaac Newton photo

“The Ellipse is the most simple of the Conic Sections, most known, and nearest of Kin to a Circle, and easiest describ'd by the Hand in plano.”

Though many prefer the Parabola before it, for the Simplicity of the Æquation by which it is express'd. But by this Reason the Parabola ought to be preferr'd before the Circle it self, which it never is. Therefore the reasoning from the Simplicity of the Æquation will not hold. The modern Geometers are too fond of the Speculation of Æquations.
Arithmetica Universalis (1707)

Prevale photo

“The woman manages to convey her intentions perfectly, with a simple glance.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La donna riesce a trasmettere perfettamente le sue intenzioni, con un semplice sguardo.
Source: prevale.net

Glen Cook photo

“Simple minds respond to simple answers.”

Source: Shadows Linger (1984), Chapter 33, “Juniper: The Encounter” (p. 370)

Mukesh Ambani photo
Helen Nearing photo
Elmer Davis photo

“The easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people’s minds is to let it go through the medium of an entertainment picture when they do not realize that they are being propagandized.”

Elmer Davis (1890–1958) American politician

As quoted in Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies by Clayton R. Koppes and Gregory D. Black (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) p. 64.

Related topics