We trained hard -- but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.-- Petronius Arbiter, c. 66 AD |
Many citations of this quote have 210 BC, but the quote is mythical. Good authorities assert that this quote does not appear in Satyricon or any of Petronius' works. Petronius did exist, however and the "quote" is just too good to ignore. Petronius was a dilettante and courtier to Nero, not a General or Centurion as many attributions suggest. Nevertheless, the timelessness of the observation transcends its fictitious origin. Given the observation, one wonders whom to credit.Encyclopedia Britannica:Petronius Arbiter, Gaius - reputed author of the Satyricon, a literary portrait of Roman society of the 1st century AD.
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