Elinor Ostrom famous quotes

There is no reason to believe that bureaucrats and politicians, no matter how well meaning, are better at solving problems than the people on the spot, who have the strongest incentive to get the solution right.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Believe #People #Incentives

What is missing from the policy analyst's tool kit -- and from the set of accepted, well-developed theories of human organization -- is an adequately specified theory of collective action whereby a group of principals can organize themselves voluntarily to retain the residuals of their own efforts.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Organization #Effort #Missing

Little by little, bit by bit, family by family, so much good can be done on so many levels
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Done #Levels #Littles

In some settings, however, rampant opportunistic behavior severely limits what can be done jointly without major investments in monitoring and sanctioning arrangements.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Done #Limits #Investment

The power of a theory is exactly proportional to the diversity of situations it can explain.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Diversity #Theory #Situation

Some of the homes that have been built in the last 10 years just appall me. Why do humans need huge homes? I was born poor and I didn’t know you bought clothes at anything but the Goodwill until I went to college. Some of our mentality about what it means to have a good life is, I think, not going to help us in the next 50 years. We have to think through how to choose a meaningful life where we’re helping one another in ways that really help the Earth.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Meaningful #Good Life #Home

Brian Walker and David Salt have written a thoughtful and powerful book to help resource users and managers put resilience thinking into practice and aim toward increasing the sustainability of our world. I urge public officials, scholars, and students in public policy programs to place this volume on their list of must-read books. It is a powerful antidote to the overly simplified proposals too often offered as solutions to contemporary problems at multiple scales.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Powerful #Book #Thinking

Bureaucrats sometimes do not have the correct information, while citizens and users of resources do.
-- Elinor Ostrom

#Citizens #Information #Sometimes

I cannot understand how any man or woman can believe in the Lord's coming and not be a missionary, or at least committed to the work of missions with every power of his being.

I believe in instinct, not reason. When reason is right, nine times out of ten it is impotent, and when it prevails, nine times out of ten it is wrong.

You can have whatever you want if you believe in yourself and keep your feet firmly planted in the ground.

God does not so much want us to do things as to let people see what He can do.

Once a leader delegates, he should show utmost confidence in the people he has entrusted.

Universities are not here to be mediums for the coercion of other people, they're here to be mediums for the free exchange of ideas.

The bells they sound on Bredon, And still the steeples hum. "Come all to church, good people"- Oh, noisy bells, be dumb; I hear you, I will come.

Money has no color. If you can build a better mousetrap, it won't matter whether you're black or white. People will buy it.

The system that enables the most people to earn the most success is free enterprise, by matching up people's skills, interests, and abilities. In contrast, redistribution simply spreads money around. Even worse, it attenuates the ability to earn success by perverting economic incentives.

Curiosity is one of the strongest human incentives