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In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties. Do not be fooled by apparent exceptions.

— Laurence J. Peter The Peter Principle (1969)

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More quotes by Laurence J. Peter

Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.

Peter's Almanac (1982)

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

The Peter Principle (1969)

On second thought, maybe the atheist cannot find God, for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.

Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)

Television has changed the American child from an irresistible force into an immovable object.

Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)

If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?

Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)

All Laurence J. Peter quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Laurence J. Peter (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.