#tools

When I started writing I wanted the best tools. I skipped right over chisels on rocks, stylus on wet clay plates, quills and fountain pens, even mechanical pencils, and went straight to one of the first popular spin-offs of the aerospace program: the ballpoint pen. They were developed for comber navigators in the war because fountain pens would squirt all over your leather bomber jacket at altitude. (I have a cherished example of the next generation ballpoint, a pressurized Space Pen cleverly designed to work in weightlessness, given to me by Spider Robinson. At least, I cherish it when I can find it. It is also cleverly designed to seek out the lowest point of your desk, roll off, then find the lowest point on the floor, under a heavy piece of furniture. That's because it is cylindrical and lacks a pocket clip to keep it from rolling. In space, I presume it would float out of your pocket and find a forgotten corner of your spacecraft to hide in. NASA spent $3 million developing it. Good job, guys. I'm sure it's around here somewhere.) ↗

— John Varley

#nasa #pens #tools #writing #design

Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. ↗

— George Herbert

#better #command #found #go #just

I've always been very upfront about the way I write, and I've always used the tools humorists use, such as exaggeration. ↗

— David Sedaris

#always #been #exaggeration #humorists #i

The proportions, too, in which the capital that is to support labour, and the capital that is invested in tools, machinery and buildings, may be variously combined. ↗

— David Ricardo

#capital #combined #invested #labour #machinery

Today, you have the opportunity to transcend from a disempowered mindset of existence to an empowered reality of purpose-driven living. Today is a new day that has been handed to you for shaping. You have the tools, now get out there and create a masterpiece. ↗

— Steve Maraboli

#disempowered #existence #inspirational #living #masterpiece

It's best to have your tools with you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged. ↗

— Stephen King

#tools #writing #writing-craft

I have a thing for tools. ↗

— Tim Allen

#thing #tools

Intelligence is the faculty of making artificial objects, especially tools to make tools. ↗

— Henri Bergson

#especially #faculty #intelligence #make #making

We have finished the job, what shall we do with the tools? ↗

— Haile Selassie

#job #shall #tools

Every orchid or rose or lizard or snake is the work of a dedicated and skilled breeder. There are thousands of people, amateurs and professionals, who devote their lives to this business. Now imagine what will happen when the tools of genetic engineering become accessible to these people. ↗

— Freeman Dyson

#become #business #dedicated #devote #engineering