When Little Prince meets the Labeler

Little Prince arrived at a planet where the Labeler lives:

Little Prince: "Hi how are you?"
Labeler: "Label yourself."
Little Prince: "What do you mean by labeling myself?"
Labeler: "I am the Labeler. I only understand things that have a label."
Little Prince: "I don't know what my label is but I came from the planet B612."
Labeler: "Planet B612.. Yes I understand B612, that's a label and I understand."
Little Prince: "How would you understand my planet? You have been to my planet? Do you know how my flower is now? I'm worried about her."
Labeler: "No I haven't. And I do not know how your flower is now. But I know I understand planet B612. I can look up all its fact in my books and tell you exactly what its diameter is. I do not understand you though because you do not have a label."
Little Prince: "If you do not understand me, how are we talking now?"

Little Prince left in frustration and thought to himself: "Adults are really really weird."

A fool is more blessed than a layman...

A fool is more blessed than a layman in that a fool does not realize that he is a fool, whereas a layman realizes his mediocrity.

I'm not afraid...

I'm not afraid to start from the beginning - Steve Jobs

If it doesn't work...

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, no matter how wonderful it sounds.

Ownership

Ownership is bidirectional.

The most important task of a teacher...

The most important task of a teacher isn't teaching, but to inspire.

I can't describe beauty...

I can't describe beauty to you, but I know it when I see it.

Software = Art

Art is never finished, only abandoned.
Software is never finished, only abandoned.
Therefore, software = art.

To be able to notice talents is...

To be able to notice talents is a very special talent in itself, for much of the acclamation of talents occurs only after talents are noticed and publicized.

When I edit a photo...

When I edit a photo, I do so as if it is a painting, some form of artistic expression, but not as a photo, since the latter would limit one's imagination.

Memory

I hope you are doing fine in heaven, my little bird.

Art is everywhere but...

Art is everywhere but usually lasts only fractions of a second. It takes a curious mind to freeze those moments into pictures.

Insight: Anything that is...

Anything that is unsustainable in itself shall demise.

Insight: Photograph is an...

Photography is an act of solitude.

Insight: Listening to a song a hundred times...

Listening to a song a hundred times does not compare to playing it one time. When I start to play a song, I hear details that I have never heard before.

Listening to silence

During my recent trip to Death Valley, I had my first experience of listening to silence at the sand dunes. It was a remarkable experience that one can never encounter in a city. The surroundings were so quiet that the only thing I could hear was my own breathing.

No wonder silence is golden. Have you listened to silence before?

Insight: To play a song well...

To play a song well, you have to memorize all the notes first, and then forget about them.

Justice, in many cases, is too...

Justice, in many cases, is too expensive to enforce. So, legal contracts don't mean much if people don't trust you. Build your trust and cherish it like your hard-earned money (or more so). Without trust, no work can be done.

Why unnecessary complexities are "necessary"

I always believe in Einstein's quote

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not more so.

The world as I know it now, however, has way too many complexities. From my experience, these complexities exist usually not because the systems need them to work. Rather, they are there because it is easy to screw outsiders when a system is complex enough.

This is especially true because few of us are research-type people who would do due diligence to really find out how things work. And for those who can, they may not have time to do that.

Think about it, many industries are like that.

Making decision and moving forward are almost always...

Making decision and moving forward are almost always more important than debating what the optimal solution is.

Why?

Because it is rarely the case that the optimal solution is significantly better than the second-best (or even the third-best) one that deserves the hassle of argument.

That's why I like Aaron Burr's quote so much.