Project Management: Laws (Just the Quotes)

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." (Samuel Johnson, 1759)

"In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away [...]" (Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "Wind, Sand and Stars", 1939) 

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." (C Northcote Parkinson, "Parkinson’s Law", 1957) 

"Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." (Fred Brooks, "The Mythical Man-Month", 1975)

"By failing to plan, you will free very little, if any, time, and by failing to plan you will almost certainly fail […] Exactly because we lack time to plan, we should take time to plan." (Alan Lakein, "How to get control of your time and your life", 1974) 

"Program advocates like to keep bad news covered up until they have spent so much money they can advance the sunk-cost argument; that it's too late to cancel the program because we've spent too much already." (James P Stevenson, "The Pentagon Paradox: The development of the F-18 Hornet", 1993)

Graham's Law: "If they know nothing of what you are doing, they suspect you are doing nothing." (Robert J Graham et al, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management", 2007) 

O'Brochta's Law: "Project management is about applying common sense with uncommon discipline." (Michael O'Brochta, "Great Project Managers", 2008) 

"No project should be allowed to proceed without clear specification and acceptance  criteria, that are understood by all participants." (Tony Martyr, "Why Projects Fail", 2018)

Augustine's Law: "A bad idea executed to perfection is still a bad idea." (Norman R Augustine)

Cohn's Law: "The more time you spend in reporting on what you are doing, the less time you have to do anything. Stability is achieved when you spend all your time doing nothing but reporting on the nothing you are doing."

Fitzgerald's Law: "There are two states to any large project: Too early to tell and too late to stop." (Ernest Fitzgerald)

Hoggarth's Law: "Attempts to get answers early in a project fail as there are many more wrong questions than right ones. Activity during the early stages should be dedicated to finding the correct questions. Once the correct questions have been identified correct answers will naturally fall out of subsequent work without grief or excitement and there will be understanding of what the project is meant to achieve."

Kinser's Law: "About the time you finish doing something, you know enough to start." (James C Kinser)