Laurence J. Peter

The unexpected always happens.

— Laurence J. Peter

A lawyer is a man who helps you get what is coming to him.

— Laurence J. Peter

Don't worry about middle age: you'll outgrow it.

— Laurence J. Peter

When in doubt or danger, run in circles, scream and shout.

— Laurence J. Peter

Middle age is when the best exercise is one of discretion.

— Laurence J. Peter

Fools rush in where wise men fear to trade.

— Laurence J. Peter

Many live by their wits but few by their wit.

— Laurence J. Peter

do it now. There may be a law against it tomorrow.

— Laurence J. Peter

Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.

— Laurence J. Peter

The man who is always waving the flag usually waives what it stands for.

— Laurence J. Peter

Political success is the ability, when the inevitable occurs, to get credit for it.

— Laurence J. Peter

Competence, like truth, beauty, and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.

— Laurence J. Peter

A censor is an expert in cutting remarks. A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.

— Laurence J. Peter

Middle age is when you stop criticizing the older generation and start criticizing the younger one.

— Laurence J. Peter

Only mediocrities rise to the top in a system that won't tolerate wave making.

— Laurence J. Peter

. . . if you can tell the difference between good advice and bad advice, you don't need advice.

— Laurence J. Peter

No committee could ever come up with anything as revolutionary as a camel - anything as practical and as perfectly designed to…

— Laurence J. Peter

“As individuals we tend to climb to our levels of incompetence. We behave as though up is better and more is better,…

— Laurence J. Peter

I inherited my ability from both parents; my mother's ability for spending money, and my father's ability for not earning it.

— Laurence J. Peter

“a staff increase may produce a temporary improvement, but the promotion process eventually produces its effect on the newcomers and they, too,…

— Laurence J. Peter

Scientists are still trying to produce life in the laboratory, but it shouldn't be difficult if the laboratory assistant is pretty and…

— Laurence J. Peter

Bore : A fellow who can change the subject back to his topic of conversation faster than you can change it back…

— Laurence J. Peter

“Employees in a hierarchy do not really object to incompetence (Peter’s Paradox): they merely gossip about incompetence to mask their envy of…

— Laurence J. Peter

Cleaning anything involves making something else dirty, but anything can get dirty without something else getting clean.

— Laurence J. Peter

“in most hierarchies, super-competence is more objectionable than incompetence.” He warned that extremely skilled and productive employees often face criticism, and are…

— Laurence J. Peter

Real, constructive mental power lies in the creative thought that shapes your destiny, and your hour-by-hour mental counduct produces power for change…

— Laurence J. Peter

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence ... in time every post tends to be occupied…

— Laurence J. Peter

Most hierarchies are nowadays so cumbered with rules and traditions, and so bound in by public laws, that even high employees do…

— Laurence J. Peter

It usually takes two people to make one of them angry.

— Laurence J. Peter

Poetry is that which is lost in translation.

— Laurence J. Peter

A rut is a grave with the ends knocked out.

— Laurence J. Peter

Don't believe in miracles - depend on them.

— Laurence J. Peter

When I want your opinion I'll give it to you.

— Laurence J. Peter

The best intelligence test is what we do with our leisure.

— Laurence J. Peter

Incompetence plus incompetence equals incompetence.

— Laurence J. Peter

Would the boy you were be proud of the man you are?

— Laurence J. Peter

If you can't keep up, drag them down to your level.

— Laurence J. Peter

He laughs best whose laugh lasts.

— Laurence J. Peter

Everyone rises to their level of incompetence.

— Laurence J. Peter

You shouldn't punish others for your own choices.

— Laurence J. Peter