Getting back to failing early, I've learned it's important to completely fail. Get fired. Shoot the project, then burn its corpse. Melt the CVS repository and microwave the backup CDs. When things go wrong, I've often tried to play the hero from start to finish. Guess what? Some projects are doomed no matter what. Some need skills I don't possess. And some need a fresh face. -- Reginald Braithwaite

While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software to the end user. -- [A comment on a blog]

The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: "I did not have time." -- WestHost weekly newsletter 14 Feb 2003

Pay attention to opportunity cost at all times. Doing one thing means not doing other things. This is a form of risk that is very easy to ignore, to your detriment. -- Marc Andreessen (http://blog.pmarca.com/)

It(mastering)’s knowing what you are doing. -- Joesgoals.com

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832)

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground. –Unknown

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. –John Lennon

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington