Adages are tidbits of knowledge, better defined here, and these are the ones I like the most. For the more interesting ones I discuss them and add my thoughts on the topic. Oh, and not all of them are technically "adages", but more like smart rules for life, either way: Enjoy!
To rephrase in my own words: "Regardless of how long or short a time period is given to complete a job, that is exactly how long it will take."
There are of course exceptions, but to me this essentially means that anything can be done faster.
My favourite example of ways to complete things faster, is this bridge in China, being refitted in just 43 hours. Now, of course lots of planning went into doing this and much of the construction took place off-site, but the road was only closed for 43 hours.
The same job anywhere else (that I can think of), would have taken years to complete. The benefits from working like this are so many to me, that I do not understand why this method is not applied elsewhere.
What would it do to our healthcare system, if the goal was to treat patients the same day? How much sooner could people return to work? How many lives could be saved from cancer? Yes recovery takes time and many things do not go away overnight, but some things could.
You can read (a little) more about Parkinson's Law on Wikipedia.