“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.”
Laurence J. Peter (1919–1990) Canadian eductor
Source: Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977), p. 83
Address Accepting the Democratic Party Nomination for the Presidency of the United States — Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles (15 July 1960) http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx<!-- Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project --> <br class="br">1960 <br class="br">Context: Their platform, made up of left-over Democratic planks, has the courage of our old convictions. Their pledge is a pledge to the status quo — and today there can be no status quo.
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.”
Laurence J. Peter (1919–1990) Canadian eductor
Source: Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977), p. 83
“None of us can be satisfied with the status quo. Not by a long shot.”
Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady
Presidential campaign (April 12, 2015 – 2016), (July 28, 2016)
“The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.”
Warren Bennis (1925–2014) American leadership expert
Bennis (1989, p. 45), cited in: Terrence Mech, Gerard B. McCabe (1998) Leadership and Academic Librarians. p. 56
1980s
“Every ruler wants to maintain the status quo.”
Tim Powers book The Stress of Her Regard
Interlude “Summer, 1818” (p. 170)
The Stress of Her Regard (1989)
“Every threat to the status quo is an opportunity in disguise.”
Jay Samit (1961) American businessman
Source: Disrupt You! (2015), p.132
“Science is not about status quo. It’s about revolution.”
Leon M. Lederman (1922–2018) American mathematician and physicist
The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? (1993), p. 193
Steve Blank (1953) American businessman
Forbes "Lean And Meaningful: What Founders Still Need To Fix In The 21st Century" https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyinverso/2016/02/10/lean-and-meaningful-what-founders-still-need-to-fix-in-the-21st-century/#1a89897a2389. February 29, 2016 issue.
“Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.”
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
“There's one thing worse than change and that's the status quo.”
John le Carré book Smiley's People
Smiley's People (1979)