Alan Perlis Quotes

If you want to succeed in the world, you don't have to be much cleverer than other people. You just have to be one day earlier.

I'm a huge planner, more and more so as the years go by.

If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business.

In short, you can't let the deadline define the mission. The mission has to define the duration.

A competitive edge has helped me through my career.

We know our future's not guaranteed, so every day, we have to relentlessly pursue additional actions to drive our competitiveness.

I like to plan. I like to see the future.

I want to take initiative; I know my game and I know what I need to do to win.

I'm a tennis fan, so I like Roger Federer. He's always two or three steps ahead, so he's hitting a shot, but he's also thinking about the next two shots. So I try to be in that frame of mind - to always be ahead.

You always look ahead to what you'll do next.

You want to put yourself in the best position to try and win.

I've always had goals, always had visions, always had a plan, always been very strategic.

If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy.

Any time you see someone more successful than you are, they are doing something you aren't.

Habit 1: Be Proactive Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Habit 3: Put First Things First Habit 4: Think Win/Win Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood Habit 6: Synergize Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

It is one thing to see the forward path and another to be able to take it. But it is better to have an ambitious plan than none at all.

The thing I think about is that once you've done it, you then start to think about what you're going to do next. It's much easier to follow something that's not been as successful as this.

We need to have a plan equal to the challenge.

At this rate, we'll never get to the future.

Leaders focus on what they can control, what they have, and what they want.

Always, Always have a plan

Programmer time is expensive; conserve it in preference to machine time

A good leader remains focused. Controlling your destination is better than being controlled by it

A lot of people – and I’m just not one of them – believe that you should live for the now. I think what you do is think about the great expanse of time ahead of you and try to make sure that you’re planning for that in a way that’s going to leave you ultimately satisfied. This is the way it works for me.

Prepare while others are daydreaming.