He who praises everybody, praises nobody.
– James Boswell
Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy.
– Samuel Butler
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
– Howard Aiken
Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
– The Dilbert Principle
You can’t polish a turd.
– David Reddig
That last quote is of particular interest to me, since it is very close to something I have said for many years, usually in reference to certain people who are dependably incompetent in their chosen field of endeavor, despite having worked in that field for a long time:
If you take a turd, and you polish it and buff it and polish it some more, you will end up with a shiny turd.
– Me
On a literal basis, Mr. Reddig and I may seem to be contradicting one another, but I think we’re essentially saying the same thing. Also – I sometimes say this not so much in reference to the individual as in reference to a particular work of theirs. Yeah, it’s kind of a snarky thing to say, but I do have those moments!
