Saved by Ben Springwater and
Taste for Makers
It takes confidence to throw work away. You have to be able to think,
there's more where that came from.
When people first start drawing, for example, they're often reluctant to redo parts that aren't right; they feel they've been lucky to get that far, and if they try to redo something, it will turn out worse. Instead they convince themselves that... See more
there's more where that came from.
When people first start drawing, for example, they're often reluctant to redo parts that aren't right; they feel they've been lucky to get that far, and if they try to redo something, it will turn out worse. Instead they convince themselves that... See more
paulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
Taste
Whatever job people do, they naturally want to do better. Football players like to win games. CEOs like to increase earnings. It's a matter of pride, and a real pleasure, to get better at your job. But if your job is to design things, and there is no such thing as beauty, then there is
no way to get better at your job.
If taste is just personal... See more
no way to get better at your job.
If taste is just personal... See more
paulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
Taste
To have a sense of humor is to be strong: to keep one's sense of humor is to shrug off misfortunes, and to lose one's sense of humor is to be wounded by them. And so the mark-- or at least the prerogative-- of strength is not to take oneself too seriously.
paulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
Nothing is more powerful than a community of talented people working on related problems. Genes count for little by comparison: being a genetic Leonardo was not enough to compensate for having been born near Milan instead of Florence. Today we move around more, but great work still comes disproportionately from a few hotspots: the Bauhaus, the... See more
paulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
You have to understand a field well before you develop a good nose for what needs fixing. You have to do your homework. But as you become expert in a field, you'll start to hear little voices saying, What a hack! There must be a better way. Don't ignore those voices. Cultivate them. The recipe for great work is: very exacting taste, plus the
... See morepaulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
In writing it means: say what you mean and say it briefly.
paulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
good design is simple