"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it"
About this Quote
As a businessman, Glasow is speaking from the world of quarterly temptations: the urge to force outcomes, juice metrics, rush product, pressure people, “fix” a problem by breaking the system it lives in. The egg is any fragile, high-potential thing: trust in a team, a new market, a relationship with customers, a skill you’re trying to build. The chicken is compounding: growth that arrives alive, not dead-on-arrival. His point isn’t “be calm.” It’s “respect process.”
The subtext carries a warning about violence disguised as efficiency. Smashing is what impatient institutions do when they demand instant proof: they overmanage, overpromise, overextract. You can’t bully incubation. Time is an ingredient, not an obstacle, and some outcomes only show up after a period of unseen work. That’s why the metaphor lands: it dramatizes the cost of mistaking speed for progress.
In a culture that rewards urgency as ambition, Glasow’s wit is corrective. Patience, here, isn’t waiting for luck; it’s protecting the conditions where something can actually hatch.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Funny Cryptograms (Shawn Kennedy, 2003) modern compilationISBN: 9781402701399 · ID: miYnWVlH8OUC
Evidence:
... The key to everything is patience . You get the chicken by hatching the egg , not by smashing it . -Arnold H. Glasow 140.Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you -Ambrose Bierce will ever regret . 141.Life may have ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Glasow, Arnold H. (2026, February 11). The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-key-to-everything-is-patience-you-get-the-36955/
Chicago Style
Glasow, Arnold H. "The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." FixQuotes. February 11, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-key-to-everything-is-patience-you-get-the-36955/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." FixQuotes, 11 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-key-to-everything-is-patience-you-get-the-36955/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










