Hand tool truisms – what say you?

[Mark Hennebury]

"Craft is something you piss in , Art is something you piss on"

[Mark Hennebury]

"An artist is not paid for his labor.....because he doesn't do any." - Mark Hennebury

[Jim Koepke]

Not specifically hand tool related but it applies:

Every project is a self-portrait of the person who did it.
– Norman Rockwell

jtk

[Joe Tilson]

I've cut it twice and it's still to short!

[steven c newman]

I like working in my shop...Not only does it keep me out of the Bars, but out of jail, too....too broke for the first, usually too tired and sore for the second.

[Jerry Olexa]

1.. Slow down..Take your time..get it right
2. 90% of Handplane issues are usually solved by sharpening...
3..Enjoy the journey
4.protect and shield your face, fingers, thumbs
5..Saw from the side..KICKBACK can be serious

Back to the shop....

[Tracy Roberts]

A task takes as long as it takes.
As you improve at a skill you'll become better and faster, focus on the better.

[Alan Schwabacher]

You pay for what you get. (The other way around is wrong. People will be happy to sell you overpriced crap.)
People who make no mistakes don't make anything.
When people have done something for hundreds of years, there is probably a reason.

Not specifically related to woodworking, but:
"If you drink much from a bottle marked "poison," it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." Lewis Carroll

[Jerry Olexa]

A few that have been around for a while:

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle.

“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” – Harvey Mackay

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision." – James Whistler

"The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of pleasures." – Luc de Clapiers

"That's the point of working with one's hands, you see. It gives the mind something else to do besides worry." — Charles Todd

"I like working with my hands. It feels good to build something yourself." — Scott Eastwood

"Working with my hands keeps me sane." — Seamus Dever

"Don't rule out working with your hands. It does not preclude using your head." — Andy Rooney

jtk

Jim, these are EXCELLENT!!! Thank you....

[Jim Koepke]

Mike, Jerry, thanks for the kind words and you are welcome.

One of my favorite things on the internet is the plethora of quotes available.

There is even extensive research on the attributions of quotes. Many are attributed to famous people yet there is no record of them saying such words.

One common quote is attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

There is no real connection other than some politicians used it in a speech and one may have attributed to Lincoln to add provenance.

It may have come from something much earlier:

… ont pû tromper quelques hommes, ou les tromper tous dans certains lieux & en certains tems, mais non pas tous les hommes, dans tous les lieux & dans tous les siécles.

The spelling “tems” was used in the original text instead of “temps”. Here is one possible translation into English: 2

One can fool some men, or fool all men in some places and times, but one cannot fool all men in all places and ages.

This appeared in a popular 1684 work of apologetics titled: “Traité de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne” by Jacques Abbadie who was a French Protestant based in Germany, England, and Ireland.

This information was found at > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/12/11/cannot-fool/

To me this kind of research is interesting.

jtk

[Dave Anderson NH]

I have a cynical version of "Lincoln's" quote for you Jim.

You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time.....and that's usually sufficient.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a cynical version of "Lincoln's" quote for you Jim.

You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time.....and that's usually sufficient.

Sadly there are too many people who will believe almost anything.

In my experience people who are trying overly enthusiastically to convince others something is true deserve to be ignored and maybe even in prison.

jtk

[Dave Woodham]

I worked for a small contractor in college and I'll never forget his saying.... "the only difference between a bad carpenter and a good one is that you can't see see the good carpenter's mistakes"

[steven c newman]

Can judge a good Carpenter by how small his pile of scraps are.

They used to say I was too slow....until I pointed out..I only need to do a task ONCE. Most times, the super fast ones? They are back the next day, to redo what they messed up...

[Jim Koepke]

I worked for a small contractor in college and I'll never forget his saying.... "the only difference between a bad carpenter and a good one is that you can't see see the good carpenter's mistakes"

Another in a similar vein, "the difference between an amateur and a professional is how they take care of mistakes."

jtk