Time & Perspective Quote by John Engler

Perfection is the politician's most convenient alibi, and John Engler is calling it out while still sounding like a man in charge of the map. The line is built as a gentle shove: "begin the journey" and "get under way" frame action as motion, not drama. It's the language of governance-as-logistics, where progress is less a grand moral awakening than the basic discipline of starting before the paperwork feels comforting.

The subtext is a rebuke to the two great enemies of policy: paralysis and performative caution. By setting "perfect conditions" against "surprises along the route", Engler normalizes uncertainty as the price of momentum. That's not just motivational boilerplate; it's a tactical reframing. If surprises are inevitable, then waiting isn't prudence - it's avoidance. The quote gives leaders cover to act with incomplete information while making critics sound naive for demanding certainty from complex systems.

Context matters because politicians deploy "journey" metaphors when they want buy-in for reforms whose costs are immediate and whose benefits are delayed. Engler, associated with an era of market-oriented governance, is implicitly selling the idea that disruption isn't failure, it's expected turbulence. Notice the careful hedge: he doesn't glorify recklessness; he contrasts "beginning" with "sitting back", casting action as responsible adulthood and delay as passive comfort.

Rhetorically, the sentence is long, plainspoken, and practical - a Midwestern executive cadence that signals competence. It works because it turns a vulnerability (not knowing what will happen) into a credential: if you can navigate surprises, you deserve to drive.