work unfinished is as good as work unstarted

— Roman Gelperin, On Rotting Prison Straw

The problem is not in producing a salable object. For no matter how hideous or impractical a piece might be, someone somewhere will buy it. Sales are no guide to quality.

— Richard Raffan, Turning Wood With Richard Raffan

A good architect, for example, does not begin by creating a design that he then imposes on the users, but by studying the intended users and figuring out what they need.

— Paul Graham, Hackers & Painters

There’s a certain irony in the fact that so many systems that correctly implement valuable behaviors end up with a structure that is so poor that it negates that value and makes the system worthless.

— Robert C. Martin, Clean Craftsmanship

After a while, getting what you want all the time is very close to not getting what you want all the time.

— Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters