Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a rule to the letter, rigidly, unquestioningly, in cases where it fits and in cases where it does not fit, is pedantry ... To apply a rule with natural ease, with judgment, noticing the cases where it fits, and without ever letting the words of the rule obscure the purpose of the action or the opportunities of the situation, is mastery.
-George Polya, mathematician (13 Dec 1887-1985)
You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
-Naguib Mahfouz, writer, Nobel laureate (11 Dec 1911-2006)
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.
-Turkish proverb
Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.
-Christina Rossetti, poet (5 Dec 1830-1894)
