When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. If you're in the business of operating nuclear power plants, could be this old aphorism is stuck up on your office wall somewhere.
1986, Margaret Jones Patterson, Robert H. Russell, Behind the Lines: Case Studies in Investigative Reporting→ISBN, page 203:
"When you're up to your neck in alligators," the saying goes, "it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp." At the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, they know what that expression means.
2003, David W. Moore, Kathleen A. Hinchman, Starting Out: A Guide to Teaching Adolescents who Struggle→ISBN, page 3:
When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. As these expressions suggest, having in mind a purpose focuses attention on what is important.
2010, Eric Jensen, Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does→ISBN, page 70;
There's an old saying that goes, “When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.” For kids who are up to their necks in alligators, the secret is to provide the services […]
