When I see outsized success I’m aware it’s a result of trying more, sometimes trying and failing for years or in a way that lacks social recognition. When I’m moved to tears by mastery of craft — the elegance of movement, of process, it’s due to devotion of time and spirit. Things don’t just become great by accident. Most times its a long and quiet... See more
I asked Kelly about the tradeoffs of focusing on a single thing if you want to be great (which is what I had been getting at before). “Greatness is overrated,” he said, and I perked up. “It’s a form of extremism, and it comes with extreme vices that I have no interest in. Steve Jobs was a jerk. Bob Dylan is a jerk.”
From Christopher Alexander foreword to Richard Gabriel's "Patterns Of Software":
In my life as an architect, I find that the single thing which inhibits young professionals, new students most severely, is their acceptance of standards that are too low. If I ask a student whether her design is as good as Chartres, she... See more