Here are some favorite aphorisms. A few of them are my own creations. Someone might have created them before I, and if so I will give credit. Still, those I claim as mine were original to me.
There is no fine line of distinction.
It is always fuzzy and grey.
It is never straight.
Bryan Kelly 1999
Many speak of the fine line of distinction, maybe between right and wrong. Look carefully. You will find it is not so easy. There are always little things and special circumstances that blur the line. Might it be ok when you do it, but not someone else?
Time, is the medium we use to express our priorities.
Bryan Kelly, 2000
The motivation for the aphorism on time was things such as the signs some people put on their desks at work saying things like “I would rather be fishing.”
My thoughts are along the line of: If you would really rather be fishing, you would get up, walk out, and go fishing. But the truth is you would rather be where you are. The reason is that you prefer the consequence of staying at your desk, or any specified location, and doing your assigned work as opposed to the consequences of walking out and going fishing. It is time to recognize that the paycheck is more important to you than the fishing. You may not enjoy working as much as fishing, but it is to your benefit to recognize that, in your opinion, working is a higher priority than fishing. That fact that you are here at work instead of fishing is absolute proof that this is what you prefer to do.
The core concept and purpose is: If we can recognize that we are really doing what we want to do, then we can quit complaining so much. When we do that, we will find that we comfortably tolerate or maybe enjoy the things we do. Or, we just might change things and actually do what really is more important.
Strive to never let it be too late.
Think carefully, then charge forward.
Bryan Kelly, 2016
Thoughts: Always be ready to make a change in your life, in you. Do not change just for the sake of change. Every change involves risks. Consider it carefully. Are you willing to be in the same place tomorrow, next year, or several years from now? If not, then you must change. You may not get what you want and may get what you do not want. Consider it carefully. I set my life on fire and burned it down at age 65 because that was the only way to get someplace different. More than a year later I have not met with success. I know where I want to be but I don’t know the path and there are no guarantees. I don’t know if I will get there, but to not make a change had become untenable. I look forward to the possibility of success, but fear the consequences of failure. Be careful, think it thoroughly, you probably cannot go back. When you are sure, move forward.
You can have it right,
Or you can have it now,
But you cannot have it Right Now!
Bryan Kelly, 2001
I am a software guy. We can probably create the code that you need, but it is more difficult than you think. Until you have written software for someone else, it is may not be possible to appreciate how difficult it is to create software. This concept is appropriate in any engineering or manufacturing environment. Indeed, in any environment where something is being created or produced.
We can make it right, but we cannot make it: Right, Now!
Too many people are not interested in the facts,
They just want to be right.
Bryan Kelly, 2011
The true nature of a person is displayed
when their cherished beliefs are challenged.
Bryan Kelly, 2011
When you make a statement that contradicts someone’s closely held beliefs, and when they take your thoughts into consideration, and when they accept your opinion, and maybe even discuss it with you, and they remain a friend, then you have found very decent person. You have found someone whose friendship should be cherished.
We need to know what a dragon is,
before we study its anatomy.
Bryan Kelly, 2010
This popped in my head during a training class on how to use a new software utility. The instructor was describing the details of how to do this and that within some utility when I realized I did not know the fundamental purpose. I had no idea of why I would run this utility and what to expect from it. I raised exactly that point in class and was rewarded with the explanation. Before you tell me how to use a tool, please tell me the purpose of the tool and why I might use it.
The speed of a rumor exceeds that of light and sound combined.
The life expectancy of a rumor exceeds that of the universe.
Bryan Kelly, 2002
Every secret represents a problem.
Bryan Kelly, 2008
This does not mean that it is bad or wrong to have secrets. It recognizes that we have secrets because of problems. When we declare and keep a secret, it is important to know why it is a secret. When you have a need to be overly secretive: look around, there is a problem nearby. Military secrets? Yeah, lots of problems there. Family secrets? Yeah, problems there to.
Some aphorisms are completely wrong.
None are completely right.
Not even this one.
Bryan Kelly 2009
I am large enough to contain a contradiction.
Bryan Kelly 2009 (estimated)
When discussing life and philosophy with my sister she noted
a contradiction. As I recall I accepted that I had done that and made the noted
statement. I think it was a paraphrase of Walt Whitman but have no idea of how
I came across it. A search for my quote returned the following so I credit him.
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself I am large, I contain multitudes.
Poem: Song of Myself, Walt Whitman
It's not the lazy idiots that you need to worry about.
They're mostly harmless.
It's the industrious idiots that you need to worry about.
They're dangerous.
Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord (rephrased)
Not a aphorism but cute:
Veritasium, an element, of truth that is. An extremely rare element.
What can be asserted without evidence
Can be dismissed without evidence.
Christopher Hitchens.
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine.
However, this is not necessarily a good idea.
It is hard to be sure where they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead. -- RFC 1925
Profanity is the attempt of a weak mind to make a strong statement.
Robert B. Winn
"We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas;
but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”
Thoreau, 1854
Of course your parents know what buttons to push,…
They installed them
Unknown
It's easy to win forgiveness for being wrong;
Being right is what gets you into real trouble.
Bjarne Stroustrup
http://www2.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq.html
I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone;
My wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone.
Bjarne Stroustrup
Tell me and I'll forget.
Show me and I'll remember.
Involve me and I'll understand.
Confucius
Upton Sinclair observed: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”
Bryan Kelly adds: And even more difficult when that understanding contradicts their declared beliefs and lifestyle.
Women and cats will do as they please,
and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Robert A. Heinlein
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance,
but the illusion of knowledge.
Unknown "
A great many people think they are thinking
when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
William James
Take what man makes, and use it.
But do not worship it, for it shall pass
Unknown
All models are wrong,
But some are useful.
George Box (1978 estimated)
If you are not a computer person: There are many applications that attempt to model parts of the real world with software. We write code to describe and implement an approximation of how these things might behave under some conditions. We, the software community, have made many great models and learned much from them. But, they all have errors. Sometimes very significant errors. Still, a huge number of those models have proven very useful.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D
However, this is not always true. From a different perspective: Those who cannot explain often cannot because they do not truly understand.
Insanity is hereditary,
We get it from our children
Unknown, maybe Jerry Lewis
"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."
Prussian general Karl von Clausewitz.
For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert.
Becker's Law: Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.
Brian W. Kernighan
Discussions should be conducted without fondness for dispute or desire for victory.
Benjamin Franklin