Grace Hopper
It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.Collection: Forgiveness
A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.
No computer is ever going to ask a new, reasonable question. It takes trained people to do that.
I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, 'What are you?'
The most damaging phrase in the language is: 'It's always been done that way.'Collection: Education
Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, 'We've always done it this way.' I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.Collection: Change
One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.Collection: Women
To me programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge.Collection: Art
The only phrase I've ever disliked is, 'Why, we've always done it that way.' I always tell young people, 'Go ahead and do it. You can always apologize later.'Collection: People
You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership.Collection: People
I am now going to make you a gift that will stay with you the rest of your life. For the rest of your life, every time you say, "We've always done it that way," my ghost will appear and haunt you for twenty-four hours.Collection: Life
I've always been more interested in the future than in the past.Collection: Past
If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologise than it is to get permission.Collection: Business
Manage things. Lead people.Collection: People
We're flooding people with information. We need to feed it through a processor. A human must turn information into intelligence or knowledge.Collection: People
The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's simply larger than it needs to be. It is easier to get forgiveness than permissionCollection: Glasses
If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you've just proven a natural law!Collection: Workout
Developing a compiler was a logical move; but in matters like this, you don't run against logic - you run against people who can't change their minds.Collection: Running
If one ox could not do the job they did not try to grow a bigger ox, but used two oxen. When we need greater computer power, the answer is not to get a bigger computer, but . . .to build systems of computers and operate them in parallel.Collection: Jobs
Some day, on the corporate balance sheet, there will be an entry which reads, "Information"; for in most cases, the information is more valuable than the hardware which processes it.Collection: Balance
From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it.Collection: Technology
I'm totally against women in combat, because we live in a culture and a society that imposes on every man the concept of women and children first...If you had a man and a woman trying to go through some dangerous woods, the man's instinct would be to protect the woman. Therefore you weaken the man.Collection: Sex
It is easier to apologize than to get permission.Collection: Apologizing
I've received many honors and I'm grateful for them; but I've already received the highest award I'll ever receive, and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy.Collection: Military
If you want my ghost just say ' We've always done it that way.' and i will haunt you for 24 hours.Collection: Done
I need something to compare this to. Could I please have a microsecond?Collection: Needs
It's always easier to apologize for something you've already done than to get approval for it in advance.Collection: Business
We've tended to forget that no computer will ever ask a new question.Collection: Technology
At any given moment, there is always a line representing what your boss will believe. If you step over it, you will not get your budget. Go as close to that line as you can.Collection: Believe
You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington.Collection: Inspirational
I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. They told me computers could only do arithmetic.Collection: Running
If it isn't bolted down, bring it home.Collection: Home
I will not take what you need to give me. I will take what you want to give me.Collection: Giving
You manage things and lead people.Collection: People
We're just getting started. We're just beginning to meet what will be the future-we've got the Model T.Collection: Change
It's easier to apologize than ask for permission.Collection: Apology