the end times are near
A broken clock is right twice a day
bureaucracy
bureaucracy exists to compensate for lack of discipline and incompetence
it tends to drive away disciplined, competent people… which further grows the need for bureaucracy in a downward spiral.
timing
a broken clock is right twice a day
“Education is the ability to detect finer and finer differences”
communication
“The biggest obstacle to communication is the illusion it has already taken place.”
spending is not easy
“To give away money is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter.”
compounding
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world”
will you build one?
“Many people want to work for a great, successful company. Few will want to help you build one.”
a cross of iron
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. [...] Is there no other way the world may live?”
“Over the years, many people have asked me how I run the Naval Reactors Program, so that they might find some benefit for their own work. I am always chagrined at the tendency of people to expect that I have a simple, easy gimmick that makes my program function. Any successful program functions as an integrated whole of many factors. Trying to select one aspect as the key one will not work. Each element depends on all the others.”
Infinite Confidence
Regarding what is possible, there are two simple maxims by two great people in my life which I will never forget:
“You can do anything if you just set your mind to it.”
“Can we build that? Well of course ... with the right tools, you can build anything.”
There's something to be said about viewing life with infinite confidence.
“Style is the way you move through life.”
“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Physics
“Physics is true; everything else is debatable. And even physics is questionable!”
True for programmers as well.
“I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!”
We don't make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies
“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.”
Rewrites
“But there are other types of rewrites. The one most dear to me is the “Don’t Try To Turn A Chair Into A Table” rewrite. It’s the one we committed when we launched the new version of Basecamp a couple of years ago. A full, start-over, everything-is-reimplemented rewrite of Basecamp because we wanted it to do different things.
Starting over allowed us to question the fundamentals of how the application worked and how it was implemented. We were able to make leaps, not just skips.
A chair can indeed be turned into a table with enough effort. Both have four legs, and all you need to do is chop off the back of the chair, and somehow refasten it to the base to extend the surface. Oh, and maybe some new wood to raise the legs up higher. It can be done, but why on earth would you?”
To Build a Ship
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea...”
Delete
“The number one tool for improving code quality is the delete key”