“There are three kinds of people: those who are good at math and those who aren’t”
-Unknown
“Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.”
- Yogi Berra (?)
“It is neither criminal nor sinful to finish the specs early-- before the drop-dead deadline”.
And because I am older than all of you–
“Cageyness is usually achieved in direct proportion to age”.
“Undoubtedly! Old-Age and treachery overcome youth and skill!”
“Youth is wasted on the young.”
“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
“I don’t have pet peeves, I have whole kennels of irritation.”
-Whoopie Goldberg
“The code of tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. In law firms, we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following: buying a stronger whip, changing riders, saying things like “This is the way we have always ridden this horse”; appoinitng a committee to study the horse; arranging to visit other firms to see how they ride dead horses; increasing the standards to ride dead horses; declaring that the horse is better, faster and cheaper dead; and finally, harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.”
- U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson (U.S. v. Microsoft trial)
Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks – Samuel Johnson
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace. - Milan Kundera
My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. Author Unknown
“The closer you are to death, the more you realize you are alive.”
- From the movie “Touching the Void”
“It is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible.” - Aristotle
“Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.” - Michaelangelo Buonarroti
“For in truth great love is born of great knowledge of the thing loved.” - Leonardo da Vinci
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”- Michaelangelo Buonarroti
I relate to the more common sense realities in life:
“Don’t squat with your spurs on.” ~Will Rogers
Landed on this one during MasterFormat 2004 implementation and the development of OmniClass.
“We must bear in mind, then, that there is nothing more difficult and dangerous, or more doubtful of success, than an attempt to introduce a new order of things in any state. For the innovator has for enemies all those who derived advantages from the old order of things while those who expect to be benefited by the new institutions will be but lukewarm defenders.” - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince 1513
The following must be a favorite of mine (I cited it just yesterday, and have many times over several decades):
“Low costs have a high aesthetic value.”
- Pier Luigi Nervi (Italian engineer known for concrete structures such as the 1960 Rome Olympics buildings)
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides. - Artur Schnabel, pianist (1882-1951)
The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser in case you thought optimism was dead. - Robert Brault, software developer, writer (1972- )
Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. - Roger Miller, musician (1936-1992)
don’t have the actual quote here, but the image is lovely:
Music is simply the sculpting of giant quantities of air.
And then I have a couple of all time favorites:
“Before you are forty, you have the face you were born with. After forty, you have the face you deserve.”
and for women:
“From birth to age 20, a person needs good parents. From 20 to 40, a person needs good looks; from 40 to 60, a person needs a good personality; after 60, a person needs a good annuity.”
(slightly modified, but by Sarah Vaughn – her version used “woman” but I think its pretty universal)
Regarding “Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool”:
Some time ago a fellow specifier used the word “foolproof”; I suggested perhaps we ought to consider using, instead, the term “fool-resistant”…
My favorite quote as an Industry person is going out on a job site and talking about your products, and some Supt. let’s you have it " nothing beats quality like a cheaper price" or from an architect when he tell’s you " you have been valued engineered out of our specs."
“Never attempt vast projects with half vast ideas.”
Sorry, don’t remember the author of this one.
From a sticker on my high school biology teachers desk:
“Engage brain before starting mouth”
In todays day an age of quick witted responses on every TV show, this has become more and more relevant (or is it just because I am growing older?).
“The bitterness of poor quality
far outlasts
the sweetness of low cost!”