The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you're not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one.
Interpretation
This quote humorously critiques the Navy's complex operations, suggesting that navigating them can be frustratingly idiotic.
Herman Wouk's quote highlights the irony of military operations, suggesting that they are overly complex and not easily understood by those tasked with executing them. It implies that to succeed in such an environment, one may need to adopt a simplistic approach, humorously pointing out the absurdity of the situation and the challenges faced by service members.
In practice
During a speech about the challenges faced in the armed forces.
The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?" Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you will never go wrong.
I learned about machinery, I learned how men behaved under pressure, and I learned about Americans.
Let us fill a cup and drink to that most noble, ridiculous, laughable, sublime figure in our lives... The Young Man Who Was. Let us drink to his dreams, for they were rainbow-colored; to his appetites, for they were strong; to his blunders, for they were huge; to his pains for they were sharp; to his time for it was brief; and to his end, for it was to become one of us.
The door available to everyone that can lead to happiness & success is the modest door of the public library. I found it to be so in my own life and work.
Every hour spent on the Caine was a great hour in all our lives-if you don't think so now you will later on, more and more.
War is a business in which a lot of people watch a few people get killed and are damn glad it wasn't them.
If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.
Negative humor is forgotten immediately. It's the stuff that makes us feel better about our lives that lives long. Much more satisfying. Enter children's books.
Comedians' first ten minutes usually stay with them the first several years of their career. It's their mission statement. Their disclaimer that lets people know who they are. Or were. It's also a good time to make fun of your name if you have a funny or strange one.
It is very vulgar to talk about one's own business. Only people like stockbrokers do that, and then only at dinner parties.
With this face, I need all the deals I can get.
I live on a one-way street that's also a dead end. I'm not sure how I got there.
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