Quote of the Day: Irene Peter on Politics & Power

Early July carries a special kind of momentum, the year is old enough to be real, but still young enough to be reshaped. It’s a season that invites a mid-course correction: cut what drags, keep what works, and rebuild what matters. With that in mind, consider this pointed line: “To make crime unprofitable, let the government run it.”

Irene Peter is joking, but the joke has teeth. She’s pointing at a pattern we’ve all seen: when too many layers, approvals, and committees get added, even the simplest process loses its edge. Her satire isn’t only about government, it’s about any system that becomes so procedural that it forgets its purpose.

Use the idea as a mirror for your own work. Where have you accidentally “bureaucratized” your life, turning goals into paperwork, habits into negotiations, and decisions into endless debate? When momentum dies, it’s often not because you lack talent. It’s because the friction is too high. The fix is rarely grand; it’s usually subtractive: fewer steps, fewer handoffs, fewer rules that exist only because they’ve always existed.

Ironically, what makes harmful behavior tempting is its speed: no forms, no accountability, no long-term thinking. The healthier alternative isn’t to copy that chaos, it’s to build a clean, simple structure that makes the right actions easy and the wrong ones inconvenient. That’s real leadership, even if you’re only leading yourself. And it’s practical discipline, not moralizing.

Irene Peter (1932–2003) earned a lasting place in modern aphorisms through sharp, compact observations, often popularized alongside Laurence J. Peter, that turn everyday frustrations into clear insight and choice.

Today, pick one recurring task and “de-government” it: delete one approval, reduce it to three steps, set a 10-minute timer, and ship the smallest viable version. May your day be lighter, cleaner, and quietly decisive.