[Ads-l] Motto: Speed Quality Price. Pick any Two [A derivative saying]

[Mark Mandel]

I have a saying in the same format for a(n ,ir)religious topic. Skip the
rest of this letter if you are easily offended by things that might look
blasphemous to you.
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Omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent. Pick two.

I'm pretty sure I didn't invent the saying but I don't remember where I got
it, and I know I didn't invent the idea.


Mark Mandel


On Fri, Jun 2, 2023, 3:52 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The subject line contains a popular motto which I was asked to
> investigate. Here is a variant saying:
>
> Good, Fast, Cheap. Choose any two.
>
> Barry Popik explored this topic, and his article contains citations
> beginning in 1982 together with earlier claims:
>
>
> https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/fast_cheap_good_pick_any_two
>
> I did not see the expression in the Dictionary of Modern Proverbs.
>
> The Quote Investigator article is here:
> Full: https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/14ae27540afe
> Abbrev: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/06/02/good-fast-cheap/
>
> Here are two citations from 1980:
>
> [ref] 1980, The Official Explanations, Compiled by Paul Dickson, Quote
> Page 230, Delacorte Press, New York. (Verified on paper) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Wallace’s Two-out-of-Three Theory.
> SPEED
> QUALITY
> PRICE
> Pick any Two.
>
> (James M. Wallace, Minneapolis. Wallace says that the dictum applies
> particularly to advertising, print shops, etc. He adds, "This is of
> course theoretical. In real life, one is usually hard-pressed to get
> any one.")
> [End excerpt]
>
> [ref] 1980 December, Industrial Research & Development, Erwin Frand’s
> Thoughts On Product Development by Erwin Frand, Subtitle: Pick Two,
> Any Two, Quote Page 27, Published by Technical Publishing: A Division
> of Dun-Donnelley Publishing Corp., New York. (Verified with scans)
> [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> A few weeks ago I was in an office of a friend who runs a graphics
> design house. One of the joys of visiting establishments such as that
> is that most of them have very interesting and unusual decorations and
> graphics scattered about. One thing which caught my eye was a sign my
> friend had hanging on the wall behind his desk. It read: “Good. Fast.
> Cheap. Pick Any Two.”
> [End excerpt]
>
> Feedback welcome
> Garson O’Toole
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org