C. Northcote Parkinson Quotes - Page 2

Deliberative bodies become decreasingly effective after they pass five to eight members.

The nice thing about standards is, there are so many to choose from. Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

The matters most debated in a deliberative body tend to be the minor ones where everybody understands the issues.

In the foundation and development of a successful enterprise there must be a single-minded pursuit of financial profit.

The basic quality for the diplomat is not intelligence but loyalty.

It is now well known, however, that men enter local politics solely as a result of being unhappily married.

The smaller the function, the greater the management.

The onset of one religion can be resisted only by another.

Where life is colorful and varied, religion can be austere or unimportant. Where life is appallingly monotonous, religion must be emotional, dramatic and intense. Without the curry, boiled rice can be very dull.

Parkinson's Law is a purely scientific discovery, inapplicable except in theory to the politics of the day. It is not the business of the botanist to eradicate the weeds. Enough for him if he can tell us just how fast they grow.

The mind reels at the multiplication of books intended to justify the author's promotion from assistant to associate professor.

A committee grows organically, flourishes and blossoms, sunlit on top and shady beneath, until it dies, scattering the seeds from which other committees will spring.