“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” ― Hyman G. Rickover
Today I came across the figure of Admiral Hymen G. Rickover who thanks to his grit helped birth nuclear navy as well as world's first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime use. Now we would call him a live player, but in essence he just got shit done.
I don't have much to write here other than he is one of the most based man I have read about - I have started reading his biography by Marc Wortman; as a short introduction, I recommend this podcast with the author, this book review as well as some of his quotes.
On top of all his engineering and organizational feats, he influenced the biggest people of this world:
When a little-known former Southern Governor named Jimmy Carter decided to seek the Presidency, he wrote, "Why Not the Best?" as a means of letting voters know who he was and his sense of values. The title comes from a question Admiral Rickover asked him during a job interview, following his graduation from the Naval Academy. "Did you do your best?" Rickover asked. Carter initially answered "yes sir" but after some thought said, "no sir, I didn't always do my best." Describing the scene years later, Carter writes, "He asked one final question which I have never been able to forget-or to answer. He said, "Why not?"
I am going to end this post with a fragment of his Thoughts on Man's Purpose in Life essay which I think everyone should read:
The sense of responsibility for doing a job right seems to be declining. In fact, the phrase “I am not responsible” has become a standard response in our society to the complaints that a job has been poorly done. This response is a semantic error. Generally, what a person means is: “I cannot be held legally liable.” Yet, from a moral or ethical point of view, the person who disclaims responsibility is correct: by taking this way out, he is not responsible—he is irresponsible.
How about we create the best possible world, why not the best?
