Quotes About Inspiration

Oulipo does not "explain" poetry, Ouilpo tries to find constraints for new kinds of poems. Oulipo is not into theory, it is a place of creation.

pretty soon Lou Gehrig was poling them high, wide and handsome over the college fences. He hit seven home runs in one season, one of them the longest ever seen at South Field, and batted over .540. And he won himself a new name. They called him the "Babe Ruth of Columbia.

architecture is there, presenting itself to us even when we do not seek it out or even choose to be conscious of it

Always produce.

To be happy I think you have to be doing something you not only enjoy, but admire.

learn to program by looking at good programs — not just at what they do, but at the source code.

The way to create something beautiful is often to make subtle tweaks to something that already exists, or to combine existing ideas in a slightly new way. This kind of work is hard to convey in a research paper.

A painting is never finished. You just stop working on it." This idea will be familiar to anyone who has worked on software.

Unknowing imitation is almost a recipe for bad design. If you don't know where your ideas are coming from, you're probably imitating an imitator.

In practice I think it's easier to see ugliness than to imagine beauty. Most of the people who've made beautiful things seem to have done it by fixing something they thought ugly.

It takes confidence to throw work away. You have to be able to think, there's more where that came from.

It's hard to do a really good job on anything you don't think about in the shower

if the hacker is a creator, we have to take inspiration into account.

In hacking, like painting, work comes in cycles. Sometimes you get excited about a new project and you want to work sixteen hours a day on it. Other times nothing seems interesting.

hackers are makers rather than scientists, the right place to look for metaphors is not in the sciences, but among other kinds of makers. What else can painting teach us about hacking?

The problem with working slowly is not just that technical innovation happens slowly. It's that it tends not to happen at all. It's only when you're deliberately looking for hard problems, as a way to use speed to the greatest advantage, that you take on this kind of project. Developing new technology is a pain in the ass. It is, as Edison said, one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Without the incentive of wealth, no one wants to do it.

Influence is having people follow you because of what you represent

whenever I want to stop myself being too Marxist about the future, I think about Shakespeare.

The things you people can do now!" Unlikely Worlds said. "The stories you make!

Rock it man. I know you will

If you want to get a glimpse of how your whole body/heart/brain Mind system sounds when it works collectively, listen to a symphony. Compositions by Beethoven might be a good start, because his deafness forced him to tune in to his heart's code rather than rely on his brain's sense of hearing.

Closing a student's mind should be a criminal offense. If you let your ego get in the way of your teaching, you may become flustered or angry and lose sight of your goal to enlighten or give back.

I have witnessed both good and bad teachers. Too many times teachers, or "instructors," want to wear the title or the T-shirt, if you will, to satisfy their own egos.

You need to be technically and tactically proficient with all your weapon systems and set the standard for the newbie on the team. They should aspire to be like you one day. If you live the example, you set the stage for success. You also take away all the excuses, should anyone want to fall back on one.