Subject: Murphy’s Laws (Page 62)

One important fact about Murphy's Law was that it was not actually coined by Murphy, but by another man of the same name.

The compromise will always be more expensive than either of the suggestions it's compromising.

The effectiveness of a telephone conversation is in inverse proportion to the time spent on it.

When opportunity knocks, you’ve got headphones on.

Expenditure rises to meet income.

(1909 – 1993) British naval historian & author

It works better if you plug it in.

A fool and his money are soon elected.

The length of a marriage is inversely proportional to the amount spent on the wedding.

There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire someone, or forbid your kids to do it.

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.

Government intervention in the free market always leads to a lower national standard of living.

1. The more tangled your line is, the better the fishing is around you. 2. The time available to go fishing shrinks as the fishing season draws nearer. 3. The least experienced fisherman always catches the biggest fish.
Corollary: The more elaborate and costly the equipment, the greater chance of having to stop at the fish market on the way home.

Experiments should be reproducible… they should all fail in the same way.

This will hurt me more than it hurts you.

As the economy gets better, everything else gets worse.

Merely because the group is in formation does not mean that the group is on the right course.

Always leave room to add an explanation if it doesn't work out.

1. If you must make a decision, delay it.
2. If you can authorize someone else to avoid a decision, do so.
3. If you can form a committee, have them avoid the decision.
4. If you can otherwise avoid a decision, avoid it immediately.

If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.

Everything goes wrong all at once.

When you arrive at your chosen campsite, it is full.