[Ads-l] A Chinese Proverb of dubious provenance

[George Thompson]

The punch line of an obituary in yesterday's (Friday, October 30) NYTimes
-- "Warren Anderson, 92, Dies; Faced India Plant Disaster"

In 1984, an article in The Times said that in dealing with Bhopal, Union
Carbide, which is now part of Dow Chemical, had to find a balance between
“the instincts of human compassion, the demands of public relations and the
dictates of corporate survival.”  The article noted that a paperweight on
Mr. Anderson’s desk quoted his favorite Chinese proverb, suggesting his
preferred light-handed approach: “Leader is best when people barely know he
exists.”

GAT

-- 
George A. Thompson
The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998..

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