Pragmatism Quotes

“Elegance is for tailors.”

“The public demands forecasts, and we must do the best we can with the means at hand.”

“As far as I was concerned, the problem was not to get an elegant programming language, but was to get a language that could be translated into efficient code.”

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”

“We are not asked to subscribe to any utopia or to believe in a perfect world. We are asked to prevent a catastrophe.”

“If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.”

“The first thing to do is to be a good animal.”

“I've always believed that you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.”

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

“I do not care what you call it, so long as it has the power of knocking people insensible to pain.”

“We have to choose our battles.”

“The purpose of foreign policy is not to provide an outlet for our own sentiments of hope or indignation; it is to shape real events in a real world.”

“We weren't making art. We were making a living.”

“My advice to anybody who wants to get into this business is to have a good education to fall back on.”

“My object has not been to make a beautiful machine, but a thoroughly practical one.”

“Alright, we waste him. No offense.”

“Never worry about theory as long as the machinery does what it's supposed to do.”

“Be approximately right rather than exactly wrong.”

“What do I care for that shield? Let it go. I will get another one no worse.”

“One of the advantages of being a coward is that you're alive to tell the tale.”