quotations about competition
All dealings among men are a contest in which some will succeed and others fail. And some are failing quite spectacularly.
BRANDON SANDERSON
The Way of Kings
For life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"The Morals of Chess"
Nobody talks more of free enterprise and competition and of the best man winning than the man who inherited his father's store or farm.
C. WRIGHT MILLS
White Collar: The American Middle Classes
The competition paradigm focuses on the immediate, and this diverts attention from the need for change. The most serious problems related to the competition paradigm may not be evident in the short term because they are long term in character. In situations of intent competition, short-term survival is critical. This is the case for every level of analysis considered here. What counts most are instantaneous biological responses, guaranteed individual wins, quick organizational profits, and high national competitiveness ratings. Focusing on the short term may permit the mistaken conclusion that destructive competition pays off. A long-term analysis reveals that the inadequacies of the competition paradigm are substantial.
PAULINE VAILLANCOURT ROSENAU
The Competition Paradigm: America's Romance with Conflict, Contest, and Commerce
One after another, researchers across the country have concluded that children do not learn better when education is transformed into a competitive struggle. Why? First, competition often makes kids anxious and that interferes with concentration. Second, competition doesn't permit them to share their talents and resources as cooperation does, so they can't learn from one another. Finally, trying to be Number One distracts them from what they're supposed to be learning. It may seem paradoxical, but when a student concentrates on the reward (an A or a gold star or a trophy), she becomes less interested in what she's doing. The result: Performance declines.
ALFIE KOHN
"The Case Against Competition", Working Mother, September 1987
Competition keeps us on our toes. It keeps us tuned up. It keeps us eager. It keeps us on the alert. It makes us progressive. It makes us hunt for waste and inefficiency, and cut them out. I don't want ever to be engaged in any industry that hasn't the stimulus of competition.
GEO MUSSON
Citrus Leaves, May 1923
The price which society pays for the law of competition, like the price it pays for cheap comforts and luxuries, is also great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still, for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful material development, which brings improved conditions in its train.
ANDREW CARNEGIE
"Wealth,", North American Review
In economic theory (and in real world markets for most things we buy), competition is a matter of steady pressures to cut waste, to innovate, and to refine product quality. The threat of bankruptcy as inefficiency's final penalty is always in the background. But the chief function of competition is to set the pace for a pack of rival producers, not to annihilate the slackers.
JOHN D. DOWAHVE
The Privitization Decision: Public Ends
What does it mean to be the best? It means you have to be better than the number two guy. But what gratification is there in that? He's a loser--that’s why he's number two.
JAROD KINTZ
This Book is Not for Sale
Competition is the spice of sports; but if you make spice the whole meal you'll be sick.
GEORGE LEONARD
attributed, Get Motivated!