Attributed to both Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. And bogus in either case. The problem with these little phrases is that it only reflects an unsubstantiated opinion that requires tacking on some famous person’s name. For the 1001 “quotes by Einstein” falsely attributed to him I say, “So what?” If Albert Einstein told you and your friends to go play in traffic, I suppose that you would.
The actual point is that you also said that their stuff doesn’t work and the record would seem to beg to differ. I never really understood the complaint about going with the “lowest bidder.” If they didn’t, no doubt people would be whining about “why are they paying the highest bidder?” In any case, “The Pentagon” has always referred to the Byzantine bureaucracies contained therein. Ask a Battalion Commander serving in the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg if he works at “The Pentagon” and see what he says.
Probably helped with author Richard Henry Dana Jr’s manuscript of Fifty Years Before The Mast.