One of these days I have to memorize this by heart:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
"The key point here is our programmers are Googlers, they’re not researchers. They’re typically, fairly young, fresh out of school, probably learned Java, maybe learned C or C++, probably learned Python. They’re not capable of understanding a brilliant language but we want to use them to build good software. So, the language that we give them has to be easy for them to understand and easy to adopt." – Rob Pike
We are in an age that assumes the narrowing trends of specialization to be logical, natural, and desirable. Consequently, society expects all earnestly responsible communication to be crisply brief. Advancing science has now discovered that all the known cases of biological extinction have been caused by overspecialization, whose concentration of only selected genes sacrifices general adaptability. Thus the specialist’s brief for pinpointing brevity is dubious. In the meantime, humanity has been deprived of comprehensive understanding. Specialization has bred feelings of isolation, futility, and confusion in individuals. It has also resulted in the individual’s leaving responsibility for thinking and social action to others. Specialization breeds biases that ultimately aggregate as international and ideological discord, which in turn leads to war.
I like this quote because it helps me to cope with difficult problems. "Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom." from Jim Rohn
"People buy expensive things to feel valuable. Lead a life where ordinary things gain value when you use it." Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Recalling from memory. May have errors. He said giving examples of Rev. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi etc. We now have museums of them containing mundane things of their daily life.
In the context of where I heard it (the book Working Knowledge) it was described as corresponding to the idea that, when it comes to knowledge, usefulness is more important than originality. Or, in other words, something like the opposite of "Not invented here."
The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn
You have to regard yourself as a cloud, you see, because clouds never make mistakes...have you ever seen a misshapen cloud? Or a badly designed wave? Whatever you do it'll all come out in the wash some way or another. ~ Alan Watts
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
My favourite spanish proverb: Si tu mujer quiere tirarte de un tejado, procura que sea uno bajo. If your wife wants to throw you off a roof, make sure it's a low roof.
[+] [-] stratosgear|5 years ago|reply
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Robert A. Heinlein
[+] [-] danieka|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] duiker101|5 years ago|reply
The only place I heard it is Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture"
[+] [-] scott31|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhruvkar|5 years ago|reply
-Buckminster Fuller
[+] [-] luhego|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aliswe|5 years ago|reply
Capture knowledge with writing.*
Say what you mean, mean what you say.
"The excuse was worse than the crime"*
He went (unnecessarily) far for pasture.*
He has been drinking from a sick goat.*
She accused me of her own sickness, and then went fast away.*
Eat him for breakfast, before he eats you for lunch.*
Eating lentils outside your home tastes better than eating chicken at home. (Pakistan)
"The eye of a parrot", meaning cannot be trusted. (Pakistan)
"Between the hammer and anvil", ie in a tough spot*
There are so many more but these are the ones that come to mind rn.
[+] [-] dontdieych|5 years ago|reply
It is translated from my language. So it may sound weird to native speaker.
[+] [-] umbs|5 years ago|reply
Recalling from memory. May have errors. He said giving examples of Rev. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi etc. We now have museums of them containing mundane things of their daily life.
[+] [-] mindcrime|5 years ago|reply
Purportedly an ancient Spanish proverb.
In the context of where I heard it (the book Working Knowledge) it was described as corresponding to the idea that, when it comes to knowledge, usefulness is more important than originality. Or, in other words, something like the opposite of "Not invented here."
https://books.google.com/books?id=-4-7vmCVG5cC&pg=PA53&lpg=P...
[+] [-] thebrainscanner|5 years ago|reply
I don't remember where I read or heard this one.
[+] [-] kleer001|5 years ago|reply
You have to regard yourself as a cloud, you see, because clouds never make mistakes...have you ever seen a misshapen cloud? Or a badly designed wave? Whatever you do it'll all come out in the wash some way or another. ~ Alan Watts
[+] [-] bediger4000|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MH15|5 years ago|reply
Marcus Aurelius
[+] [-] sethammons|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notoriousarun|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yesenadam|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tuesday20|5 years ago|reply
Oscar Wilde
[+] [-] boltzmannbrain|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Nikhiil|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sethammons|5 years ago|reply
Luck is where opportunity meets preparedness