why the assorted domestic disasters (broken teeth, arguments with neigbours, sick dogs, non-starting cars etc.) only seem to happen when I'm away and can do nothing about them?
Murphy's laws- If anything can go wrong, it will
Corollary: It can
MacGillicuddy's Corollary: At the most inopportune time
- If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong
- If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway
- If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something
- Nature always sides with the hidden flaw
Corollary: The hidden flaw never stays hidden for long.
- Mother nature is a bitch.
- Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics
Things get worse under pressure.
- The Murphy Philosophy
Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse.
- Quantization Revision of Murphy's Laws
Everything goes wrong all at once.
- Murphy's Constant
Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value
- Addition to Murphy's Laws In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right ... something is wrong.
- More Laws
- Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
- Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
- Rule of Accuracy: When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer.
Corollary: Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem.
- Nothing is as easy as it looks.
- Everything takes longer than you think.
- Everything takes longer than it takes.
- Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
- Every solution breeds new problems.
- The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to its importance.
- no matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy's law will take effect and screw it up