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Article #47:
SOME WORDS OF WISDOM
Originally written January, 2005. Latest update: May, 2019
NOTE: some of the sayings in this article are unattributed. If you know who first said one of the unattributed sayings, please let me know on the Game Design Q&A Bulletin Board.
If you don't feel like reading everything (not that it would take very long - and the whole thing is full of gems!) you can click to jump to the topic of your choice. Some sayings apply to multiple topics, though - and I had to pick just one topic to put a saying in (so as to avoid repetition and getting repetitious so you wouldn't have to read the same thing more than once).
Advice
On Dumb Questions
My Philosophy For This Website
On Character
On Fear
On Choices
On Education
On Life
On Work
On Planning
ADVICE
I suggest he gets all the education he can, and then when he starts to work, to apply himself assiduously.
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Theodore Bikel, Columbo (#40, "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Test")
Follow your bliss. ... If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.
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Joseph Campbell
It's important to understand what Campbell means by "bliss."
"Bliss" does not mean "getting high" or "playing video games all day."
He's talking about creative endeavors - occupations - (work) - that you feel passionate about. See also the quotes by Dean Kamen, David Hasselhof, and Samuel Butler, elsewhere on this page.
First, you gotta be talented. Then, you gotta work really hard. Then hope you catch a lucky star.
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Katy Perry
Katy was a judge on "American Idol" in 2019 - She was talking about becoming a successful musical talent, but the same principles apply to game design, or just about any career goal.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
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William Shakespeare
Polonius' advice to his son, Laertes, is a good guide for many things in life.
And it goes well with Joseph Campbell's advice, too.
Don't ask someone else what your bliss should be - that's for you to decide.
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued is just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne wasn't saying "you don't have to try," he wasn't saying "everything you desire will come to you if you do nothing," but rather this: It often happens that the thing you desire will come to you... if you are in the right place at the right time and you are not pushing it too hard.
Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is no "one size fits all" route for a game industry aspirant to take that will lead him to his dream job. He has to blaze his own. And his passions shall guide him on his way.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
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Robert the Bruce
1970's poster depicting a kitten hanging by its paws from a wire
Japanese expression
The above three sayings all mean exactly the same thing. Perseverance is important. Despite the diffugleties life throws our way, we should never give up on our hopes for a blissful life.
Inveniemus viam aut faciemus. We will either find a way or make one.
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Hannibal
Perseverance alone is not enough. You also need to get creative, blaze new trails. When you can't take the straight or obvious route, find or make a new route to where you want to go.
Learn the rules... so you can break them properly.
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The Dalai Lama
They say rules are meant to be broken. And there is some modicum of truth in that. But if you try to break all the rules, or break them in the wrong way, success probably will be beyond your grasp. There's lots more quotes about "rules" herein. (See, I broke a grammar rule there. Ain't it effective for its quaintness?)
There's an exception to every rule... even this one.
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Tom Sloper
On DUMB QUESTIONS
I have been reading your Descartes.
Very interesting.
"I think, therefore I am."
He forgot to mention the other part.
I'm sure he knew, he just forgot.
"I don't think, therefore I'm not."
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Dainin Katagiri, Roshi
Modern saying
Many questions are easily answered by means of a Google search. OK, so you can use any search engine you prefer, if Google isn't your fave. I'm here to answer specific types of questions, and to give specific types of advice. There's a broad range of questions that would be better asked of Google or Jeeves - or Madame Mystico and her crystal ball (or Tarot cards, or palm readings). I don't own a crystal ball myself, and the Tarot readings I might perform would be more for amusement than life guidance. I'm not as good a friend as Google is, depending on what you're trying to find out.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where-" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
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Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland
Many young game industry aspirants ask what degree they should get, without saying what they want to do with it.
The above is the most frequent answer to any question asked by someone who thinks there's a simple answer - a one-size-fits-all answer - to whatever thing he's wondering about. Life just hardly ain't ever that simple. A question must be accompanied by information about the asker's situation, the asker's preconceived notions, and the asker's desired end result.
The above is my stock answer when someone begins a question with, "Is it possible to...?" I don't believe this sort of question is useful. It's more useful to discuss realistic courses of action than whether or not something is possible. Just ask your real question. What is it you're really trying to find out?
There are no magic answers for anything on the face of this earth.
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Dr. Laura, 1/12/05
If you can't read the signals along the street, you'll never get to your destination.
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Dr. Laura, 4/30/09
I don't want to hear your feelings - I want to hear what you know.
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Dr. Laura
You can only ask me about something you have power to control.
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Dr. Laura
I hope that the above are self-explanatory...?
Dr. Laura, Feb. 1, 2005
The answer to any question that begins, "What are the chances that..."
Yes, yes, it's all a rich tapestry.
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Psychiatrist Dr. Zweig (aka Lowenstein), The Simpsons ("Fear of Flying")
This is the wise and patient response to the over-inquisitive wannabe who goes on and on: "...and I draw, and I code, and I design, are those good traits to have?"
I mean, duh! If I say those aren't good traits, are you going to try to get rid of them? If I say they are good traits, are you going to run right down to the local game company and apply for a job, without bothering to get an education or try doing stuff on your own like I discussed in Lesson 12?? Sheesh!
I was watching "Walking With Cavemen" on the Discovery Channel and was taken by one line of narration in particular. The narrator was talking about Homo Heidelbergensis: "They see the world only as it is, and cannot imagine a better version of it." By contrast, many video game wannabes are so highly evolved from Homo Heidelbergensis that they can only see the world as it ideally should be... they cannot see the world as it is!
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The above is from Lesson 24, "Stupid Wannabe Tricks." Young folks (high school to early college) don't have much experience with the workaday world. Such folks often form an idealized mental image of what the game industry must be like, and interesting dumb questions sometimes come out of that.
A man who acts as his own lawyer has a fool for a client.
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An expression lawyers use a lot.
The reason I included the above is that I see a lot of wannabes (folks who want to make their game ideas come to fruition) who don't want to accept the wise advice to get an education, followed by a job in the game industry. Someone who tries to create a game company without bothering to obtain any education or professional experience or professional contacts is like that guy who acts as his own lawyer. He's going to learn a lot... the hard way.
It's dumb to repeatedly pester non-lawyers with legal questions.
And have you seen that commercial where the guy is on the phone with the surgeon, who's telling him how to start cutting into his own chest? The guy says to the doc, "Shouldn't you be doing this?" When an expert in the field gives you advice, you really outta seriously consider listening to it. Which leads nicely into this next one...
If you ever have to ask "will this get me in trouble," and you don't want to pay an attorney to find out, you shouldn't do it. Simple. Remember-- Just because you might have a DEFENSE doesn't mean you can't get SUED.
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Video game attorney Mona Ibrahim
Mona's legal blog is at http://www.underdevelopmentlaw.com/. She calls it "Under Development:
A legal blog that addresses the IP and business planning issues faced by indie developers and indie publishers."
When we go into the land of what we don't want, we shut ourselves out of the land of what we want.
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Dr. Laura, August 25, 2009
"I want to be a video game artist, but I don't want to just make art other people tell me to make." "I want to be a video game programmer, but I don't want some producer above me." "I want to work in the video game industry, but I don't want to be somebody else's lackey."
Learn to ask better questions.
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The above is my standard reply when someone only asks me, "do you have any advice for me?"
Close mouth. Open ears. Turn on brain.
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A lot of young game biz hopefuls are so intent on asking a myriad of questions that they don't seem to absorb the answers given. I don't know how many times I've heard Dr. Laura say to a caller, "I gave you your answer. Now you're just going on as though I never said a word."
MY PHILOSOPHY FOR THIS WEBSITE
This should be very educational. I want you kids to pay attention.
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Marge Simpson, The Simpsons
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.
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Chinese proverb
The above is the main reason why my responses sometimes seem like "tough love." I want the users of this site to turn on their brains, to learn to fish on their own. But I can't resist quoting the "reverse wisdom" version of this saying... Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll sit in a boat drinking beer all day." (^_^)
You can see a lot just by observing.
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Yogi Berra
Too many people come here, see that I give advice and answer questions, then jump right to asking questions without first looking around. A lot of young people think they can get answers by asking questions. It's better to just open your eyes. See what's here. Then ask questions that aren't already answered.
When you're doing a bad job and nobody points it out to you, that's when they've given up on you. When somebody rides you, they're doing that because they care to make you better.
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Randy Pausch
Accept criticism in the spirit in which it's given - don't complain about it!
I get in the way of fantasies -- bad habit that I have.
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Dr. Laura
When you have been here a while you will realise we don't simply hand out answers, we challenge people to think so that they work them out for themselves.
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Dan Marchant, IGDA Breaking In forum, 1/5/05
Couldn't've said it better myself!
When the pupil is ready, the teacher will come.
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Chinese Proverb
To the people who complained about the lack of tutes on this site I say this, get off your fat arses and stop expecting everything to be handed to you on a silver platter. If there's something you don't know about and it's not in a tute then go and experiment and learn it and write your own damn tute. Or maybe you people just don't have the brain power and perseverance to do anything for yourselves.
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Found at http://www.gamedev.net/.
Hear, hear! (^_^) Yes, I don't have any FAQs for artists. Je ne suis pas un artiste! What do you expect from me?? Ahem. Sorry about that. Rant over.
To have an idea is easy - any idiot can have one. What's hard is to DO IT.
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Conceptual artist Jeanne-Claude (2/13/05)
She was speaking specifically on the "Gates" project she did with her husband Christo in New York City's Central Park, but this is the point I try to make to folks who come here looking for a way to sell their ideas. I always tell them, "you're thinking one idea - I'm thinking career." I always say "that's great that you have a wonderful idea," so that I don't sound like I'm just a negative thinker trying to naysay the value of ideas. But Jeanne-Claude is right - it IS easy to get an idea. Which is exactly why people don't give out money for them. You have to work, establish yourself, and work hard to sell it - then work hard to make it happen. Christo and Jeanne-Claude didn't just get the idea and then get New York to pay to do their idea. They worked really hard to make the Gates project a reality - and they spent their own hard-earned money to do it. So that's great that you have an idea. Now start working on it. Read the FAQs on this website, follow the links, read more stuff. And when you get tired of reading, figure out how to do it, then roll up your sleeves and get to work.
When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
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Shunryu Suzuki (Japanese Zen priest, ?-1971)
This expresses very well my philosophy about following your passions.
Catherine Ryan Hyde
People sometimes ask me why I set up this site. I guess it's my way of giving something back after 25 years in the industry. Or maybe, instead, paying forward. Ms. Hyde's novel became a movie and now it's a foundation. Go to http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/home.html.
Wisdom is not in knowing all the answers, but in knowing the right questions.
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The great Chinese philosopher, Kong Few Shun (quoted in Shanghai: Dynasty, the great computer game)
Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not
be able to tell the difference.
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Modern email joke
After I give my advice, I'm done. But I do wish I'd learned this wise saying sooner...
When you fax me, I own it.
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Dr. Laura
All your email are belong to me.
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Tom Sloper
The last one above plays on the wording from Toaplan's "Zero Wing" video game for Sega Genesis, and uses the exact same philosophy stated by Dr. Laura above.
This is a public advice forum. If you email me to seek my advice, you'll get it. And it won't cost you anything. But unless it's a genuine business query in the usual and proper sense, your advice will be given on the bulletin board. You can't email me an advice request and then ask me to email it to you and not put it on the bulletin board! It's like the lady who called Dr. Laura on her radio show and asked (on the air) for Dr. Laura to take their call off the air (and give her free private advice while all the radio audience was supposed to listen to what, elevator music??) - that ain't the way these public advice things work.
I'm not impressed by legal confidentiality disclaimers that some folks append to every email they send. I've already got my own legal disclaimers, plastered all over this website. It's like the Vogons said to the people of Earth before demolishing the planet to build a hyperspatial express route:
"There's no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now." - Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
If you want my confidential advice, say so when you email me. And be prepared to pay a consulting fee (that's business for ya).
Origin unknown
I'm not here to make you feel good, to tell you how creative you are, to reassure. Young people get reassurance from their friends. Even younger folks get reassurance from parents or sometimes from teachers. Don't send me your game designs. Don't send me your résumés. Don't ask me to visit your website and give you strokes. Get reassurance from the people who are close to you - that isn't what I'm here for. If you're looking for "warm and fuzzies," this is the wrong place. I'm only here to give realistic advice, not feelgood meds.
No good deed goes unpunished.
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Origin unknown
I've put a lot of hard work and good intentions into this site. But I still get a lot of angry emails, and prank posts and even prank phone calls. Go figure. Just one last thought while we're on this subject...
Well, excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don't work on!
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Homer Simpson
On CHARACTER
It's not about how you feel. It's about what you can do.
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Katie Uhlaender (Radio interview, The Story)
It can be a hard pill to swallow, but the world really doesn't care all that much about how you "feel." The world will only note or long remember what you achieve.
Everyone should climb Mount Fuji; he who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man. He who climbs it twice is a fool.
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Japanese saying
The climb up Mount Fuji, I hear from friends who've done it, is quite arduous. But to achieve it takes strength of character, determination, will. But once you've done it, why on earth would you want to go through that again? It's intelligent and reasonable to say "You go ahead, go without me. Been there, done that." Let your friend have his own moment of self-discovery and achievement.
The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.
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Benjamin Franklin
I used to whine a lot when I was young. I still whine once in a great while, but as soon as I catch myself whining, I shut up. Because it's not a sign of good character. You mustn't be more whiny than everybody else. And you should be properly supportive and commiserating when somebody else whines. And try not to whine in earshot of your boss. Lodging a complaint or offering a suggestion for a way to improve something, now, that's an entirely different thing from whining. But I'd better shut up now... I'm becoming a noisy cartwheel.
Persuade yourself that imperfection and inconvenience is the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent or despair.
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Tokugawa Ieyasu
You don't have to be the Shogun of all Japan to benefit from the wisdom of this. Any whiner need only remember this wise saying.
"Sounds like somebody has a case of the shoulda's!"
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Teacher of advanced class, The Simpsons ("Bart the Genius")
I've said many times that it's futile to whine about the way things are. You don't like the way the world works? Work to change it. That would take character. Whining is one of the hallmarks of poor character.
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table;
But you only want the ones that you can't get.
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Don Henley & Glenn Frey (The Eagles), Desperado
If you foolishly ignore the good things you can get, and only pine for what you can't get, you will have an unhappy life. Be grateful for the things life does give you...
Don't complain; just work harder.
You can spend your life complaining, or you can spend it playing the game harder.
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Randy Pausch
God grant me the strength to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference.
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"The Serenity Prayer," by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1930s or early 1940s); wording above varies from Niebuhr's original.
Know [that] your worst day is a blessin' 'cause ya might learn somethin' from it.
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Singer/songwriter Dr. John (Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr., heard on NPR, Valentine's Day / Chinese New Year, 2010)
We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
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Gandhi
Got something to whine about? Forget the whining -- get off yer butt and do something about it.
Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it true, does it improve on the silence?
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Sai Baba
There are no small parts, only small actors.
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Konstantin Sergeievich Stanislavsky, Russian actor, director, and teacher [1863-1938]
I hear constantly from wannabes who insist they're too smart, too talented, too educated, to take a job in any kind of game biz "grunt" role. Rather than whine about the part you've been given, work harder so you can earn a bigger part. Play the game better, as Randy Pausch said above.
Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable.
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Shakespeare
If everybody was remarkable, then how would anybody ever stand out from that crowd?
I don't want "enough." I want it all.
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The bad guy in the Hawaii Five-O episode, "Percentage."
More "reverse wisdom." The point: we are a society of instant gratification seekers. That is going to be our downfall.
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people.
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Randy Pausch
Ya gotta keep trying. Then when that doesn't work, you gotta just try some more.
The difficult is done at once;
the impossible takes a little longer.
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Motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II
It takes time to get what you really want.
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Character Dale Kingston (Ross Martin) in Columbo episode "Suitable For Framing."
Some young folks come to me and express extreme impatience for the time it takes to get a degree, for the time it takes to develop a portfolio, for the time it takes to get hired. It does take time. Patience, Grasshopper!
Keye Luke as Master Po, Kung Fu
For everything there is a season.
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Eccliastes
If you want to learn about a man's character, play mah-jongg with him.
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Chinese proverb
The above works equally well for any game. Plug in "poker" instead of "mah-jongg." Or plug in "chess," or "golf," or even "Monopoly" or "GTA San Andreas." Play any game with someone and you will learn much about that person's character. Plato said it first...
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
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Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
Thanks to Scott B for submitting this one! I'll bet you didn't know that games had the power to reveal the player's character, did you? Games are more powerful than you think.
No one will ever just remember your name.
No one will instantly make you their hero.
No one will automatically give you their respect just because you show up.
You have to earn it.
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Lance Armstrong
Lance said the above in some TV commercial. It isn't MY problem that I don't remember what the commercial was selling!
The time has come to choose between what is right and what is easy.
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Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J. K. Rowling)
Wanna get into the game biz? Then the time has come to choose between what you need to do... and what is easy to do.
Wishing won't make it so.
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Common expression
Pining for something isn't enough. You have to make a plan, and take action. A realistic and wise plan. Realistic and wise action.
Common expression
When I quoted "Wishing doesn't make it so," I did not mean to quash all hope. By all means, we should have hopes. We should make plans, take action, and not let the bad stuff get us down.
Hope is disappointment postponed. The danger in putting too much effort into just wanting something to happen, is that you can ignore the reality of what is.
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Dr. Laura
And hoping is also not nearly as effective as doing. This goes to what Patrick Awuah and Michael J. Fox said.
In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.
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Isaac Asimov
No, you're not screwed because you studied basketweaving. Now get off your butt and trailblaze your own personal yellow brick road.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
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Another one of those inspirational posters from the late sixties or early seventies.
If your character is flawed, if you've been indulging in weak behavior, if you've been hoping but not doing, you can change. It won't be easy, it won't happen right away, but you have to start somewhere. And you can start right now.
On FEAR
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Once fear is aroused in your brain, it tends to take over and dominate.
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Joseph LeDoux
LeDoux, a professor of neuroscience at New York University, spoke on NPR, August 28, 2009, explaining why fear is a tool being used by the health industry to squash attempts to overhaul the national health system. Fear crowds out the truth, as pointed out by another interviewee on the NPR piece, the title of which includes the words, "Fear Trumps Logic."
Never take counsel of your fears.
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Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Dr. Laura
Get rid of the evil poison in your mind.
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"Dwarf King" from Sweden, replying to yet another stupid "am I too old" question on the GameDev.net forums, December 2010
The above sayings all make the point. It's normal to fear something (like the possible consequences of an action we plan to take). But if we let our fears control our actions, we are stymied - we make no progress. Better to be afraid of the consequences of never doing anything brave. Conquer your fears; take control; do something with your life.
Success only comes with failures.
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Rocket scientist Tom Ward, profiled in
The Story: "Sputnik Kids," January 28, 2011.
A lot of the time, the thing people are most afraid of is failure. But failure teaches us a lot! Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid of being afraid to fail. Now go out there and try, already! The training wheels have to come off the bike sometime. I remember when I scraped my knees falling from the bike, I was just so thrilled that I'd actually kept the bike upright for as long as I had!
People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
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André Gide
This is the antidote to Stupid Wannabe Trick #16. Some folks prefer to talk about how to get into the biz, rather than actually getting out there and doing stuff. Possibly out of laziness, and possibly out of fear. What was that sneaker ad - "just do it."
I can't tell you if your idea is good. If you feel passionate about it, do it and don't be afraid to fail. In fact, failure should motivate you - it does that for me.
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Ben Kaufman
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
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Howard Aiken, Computer Scientist
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
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Modern expression
I like the fact that the above saying makes fun of fear. Be fearful of having fears. Be paranoid about paranoia! Like FDR said.
People are suspicious of people wearing masks. So don't do it. Except on Halloween or Mardi Gras maybe.
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Tom Sloper
Okay, so I wrote this just now. It irks me when people (out of fear and paranoia) use fake names or phony monikers when going out on the internet and seeking advice or information. Forget the Lone Ranger - the writers of his stories never gave a really good reason for him to wear a mask, and they glossed over the real-life difficulties a masked man would have in everyday life. Want me to help you? Don't wear a mask. Come to me openly and honestly, without disguise or pretense, and ask me what it is you want to know. If you don't want me to use your real name and/or email address when I respond on the bulletin board, just say so! Is that so difficult?
We can't go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds
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(Lyrics & music by Mark James)
Even Elvis Presley said it - to live life with constant fear and paranoia is no way to live. Get over your fears and paranoia, and LIVE!
No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.
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George Chakiris
On CHOICES
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
...
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963), "The Road Not Taken"
(Two stanzas omitted for brevity)
You are where you're supposed to be in life.
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David Hasselhof on "America's Got Talent," August 2009
Before you flame me, I realize that David Hasselhof didn't originate the saying. But him saying it on the TV tonight hammered this home for me. Maybe the saying is really "You are where you're supposed to be," but I don't care. I don't care who said it first, I don't care when it was first said, and I don't care what the exact wording is, or even if there is an exact wording. This makes the point I've been trying to make with my articles: pursue your passions, and you will wind up where you are supposed to be in life. AND YOU WILL LIKE IT. And that is the secret of life. See also what Joseph Campbell said.
Your happiness grows in direct proportion to your acceptance, and in inverse proportion to your expectations. Acceptance doesn't really mean you're resigned to it. It just means acknowledging that that's what it is. There's always failure. And there's always disappointment. And there's always loss. But the secret is learning from the loss, and realizing that none of those holes are vacuums.
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Michael J. Fox
You can choose to be happy. Choose to acknowledge reality. Choose to learn from reality. Choose to have realistic expectations. Doctor Laura had something to say on acceptance too...
It's really nice to want things. But when you want things that are out of your control to make happen, it's time to let go.
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Dr. Laura, 4/26/2010
Alfred E. Neuman
Worrying is instead of making plans.
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Dr. Laura, 7/24/08
If you say, "it's hard," you just stymie yourself.
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Dr. Laura, 1/21/05
The point of the above? Don't whine and agonize. Make a plan and take action.
War doesn't determine who is right; war determines who is left.
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Punny email joke masquerading as Chinese proverb
There are some roads not to follow; some troops not to strike; some cities not to assault; and some ground which should not be contested. ...
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Actual Chinese proverb (Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Is this the hill you want to die on?
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Dr. Laura
The point being made by Sun Tzu and Dr. Laura should be obvious, but let me belabor it anyway. You must choose your battles wisely. You may believe that a particular feature should be part of a game project, but your boss may be ready to let you go, should you be so foolish as to threaten to quit if the feature is not incorporated into the game. Remember the serenity prayer. Accept the things you can accept, and fight for the things your character requires you to fight for. But be mindful that there are likely to be consequences, and be prepared to deal with them.
These things are very simple if you have a hierarchy of what's important in your head.
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Dr. Laura, 5/7/2003
If you're faced with a dilemma, consider all your possible courses of action. Decide what's important or right. Once your mind is clear on what's important to accomplish or right to do, your way should be clear.
You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish - if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.
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Robert E. Lee
Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.
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Gail Sheehy
You gotta take risks, else you don't grow. Goes along with that thing Dr. Seuss said.
We don't have choice in what happens to us - we only have choice in how we deal with what happens to us.
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Unknown
What you cannot avoid, welcome.
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Chinese Proverb
Some of us prefer illusion to despair.
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Nelson Muntz, The Simpsons
This classic bit of "reverse wisdom" ignores the fact that we have the choice of other alternatives. If we let ourself be guided by our fears and hopes, we let inaction become a way of life. Can't have your heart's desire? Better to accept and move on than to fool yourself.
Wake up and smell the bacon.
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American expression
The alternative is to stay in bed (stymied by your fears, or by your laziness). Make a choice to get up and face the day. Deal.
On EDUCATION
Virtually nothing that you can ever learn is useless crap.
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boogyman19946, 24 September 2011 - 09:10 PM
(GameDev.net > The Technical Side > For Beginners)
So many today reject learning anything except the "essentials." They don't want to "waste their time" learning "useless crap." So when I saw boog say the above on gamedev, I stole it and pasted it at the top of these wise Education sayings for everyone to see.
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
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William Butler Yeats
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
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John Dewey
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
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Derek Bok (American educator, pres. of Harvard 1971-1990)
Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.
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Unknown
The meaning of the above - you need an education.
sure stay in school for your deplomas, in my apionon unless you wanting to work for others its a complete wast of valuable time.
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"MadApples" (post on GameDev.net, Dec. 19, 2009)
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=555535
One of the best examples I've seen yet of "reverse wisdom" on the importance of getting a degree. If you ever want to get a job in the game industry, you need a degree! Yes, the typos were really all in his post.
If you want to play in the pool, be prepared to swim with the sharks.
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Heard on NPR, 6/16/04
The reason education is so important. If you're going to swim with sharks, you need to know as much as you can about sharks' physiology, biology, psychology, social structure... and especially their feeding habits. (And maybe even how best to cook them.)
"In life things will happen to you and you must draw the lessons from them. You will not always have someone there to explain them to you, and you must learn to learn on your own. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Sensei."
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Dale Furutani, Death At The Crossroads
On LIFE
Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it.
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Judge Faith Jenkins
I accept all the things that I cannot change.
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Grace VanderWaal, "Clearly," 2018
As he made his way, his lantern illuminated the pathway before him just a few steps ahead. His life was like the glow from the lantern. He could see only one or two steps ahead of him, yet his faith in the future kept him moving forward...
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Dale Furutani, Jade Palace Vendetta
Some young folks come to me and ask, "if I do this or if I do that, will I get a job in the game industry?" And I can only answer, "my crystal ball is at the repair shop today. Just continue to get your education, and follow your passions."
If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.
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Frank A. Clark
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity...
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Gilda Radner
It's what I do that teaches me what I'm looking for.
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Pierre Soulages, French artist, 1953
That there are imperfections in a properly made decision is just a fact of life.
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Dr. Laura, August 28, 2009
This world we live in is imperfect. Hardly anything in this world is perfect. The decisions you make are usually between different imperfect options. Choose the best option, the one with the fewest known imperfections, and move on with your life.
Things are never as good as they seem, or as bad as they seem.
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President Barack Hussein Obama (April 29, 2009)
Life just isn't pure black and pure white. Good things will inevitably come with some negative aspects. Bad things will almost always sort themselves and work out in the end.
It's not what you think you can do; it's what you do.
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Unknown
Your brilliance may be apparent to you, but as they say in Missouri, "show me the goods." Okay, so that's not exactly what they say in Missouri.
Common expression
J. D. Salinger, "Catcher In the Rye"
Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
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One of those emails that circulates around these days (2009)
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
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Philip K. Dick
The best reason I've ever heard for not living your life in Fantasy Land.
Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common.
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Leroy "Satchel" Paige
IOW: Believe in not only reality, but yourself as well.
Character is not determined by what happens to us, but rather how we deal with what happens to us.
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Unknown
You can only play with the cards you're dealt.
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Origin unknown
The above is my stock reply when a wannabe complains to me, "but I can't afford college," or "but I'm way beyond college age now, and I've got experience in a different field." I wrote my advice to fit the usual situation. If you're outside the widest part of the bell curve, you have to find different solutions than the normal ones. I wasn't able to take every possible life situation into consideration in writing my articles. And maybe it just isn't in the cards for you to get into the game industry. That doesn't mean you can't find alternate ways to follow your passions. And I may not be able to give you a magic answer (like Dr. Laura said).
Things seem to turn out the best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
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Art Linkletter
We all need a little bit of luck. It's just how you use that luck when you get it. It's how well you play your bad cards.
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Professional poker player Roxanne "Roxci" Rhodes (NPR, June 4, 2005)
What's true in games is often true in life.
Waiting for luck is like waiting for death.
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Japanese proverb
It's also said, "you make your own luck." Get out of bed. Smell the bacon. Go make some luck for yourself.
Luck is for wimps. Luck may or may not be on your side, but action is 100% in your control.
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Sally Hogshead, "Radical Careering" - ISBN 1592401503; this is from Radical Truth #12.
By all means, wish on stars, carry a rabbit's foot, throw horseshoes over your shoulder... Oh wait, I think I'm mixing good luck superstitions with practices that'll get you sued for grievous bodily injury. You can hope for luck - but you can't base your life planning on becoming lucky rather than taking action to achieve your desires.
Business saying
I was thinking to put this into the section on Planning, but it works here too.
It is a rare thing to be granted your heart's desire.
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Salman Rushdie
It is rare, yes. That doesn't mean you can't have hopes. Just be realistic, make a plan, and follow your passions. Like Joseph Campbell said, if you follow this advice, you are likely to find yourself on an interesting path through life.
Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues, and you know it don't come easy.
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Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr), It Don't Come Easy, 1971
Some days you're the dog. Some days you're the hydrant.
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Ancient internet proverb (?)
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. (The more things change, the more things stay the same.)
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French proverb
Smart people learn how to use their skills. Happy people learn how to live with their shortcomings.
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Unknown
Every rule is meant to be broken... including this one.
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Tom Sloper
It's true that you can break the occasional rule, and still make a breakthrough hit game by doing so. But beware - the saying "every rule is meant to be broken" is an attractive trap. A novice, hearing the saying for the first time, may think it's a license to proceed without regard for "rules." Rule-breaking can be a bad habit. And habits are definitely made to be broken. If you can make a hit game without having to break any rules, then you've really got something. And that something is probably called "skill" or "talent."
On WORK
A player who makes the team great is better than a great player.
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Unknown
Although this quote is about team sports, it's very much applicable to work in a team environment (which is exactly what the game industry is).
When you take that attitude, you take your chances.
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Edward Albee, playwright, NPR, Feb. 6, 2009
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
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Thomas Jefferson
Success in work and success in life are largely about attitude. So many advice seekers come to me with the wrong attitude; I try to show them a better way of looking at things. A lot of times, they just never get it. And then there are those who do come back to me later with a whole new outlook, finally understanding what it was I'd been trying to teach.
Dreams are the touchstones of our character.
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Henry David Thoreau
It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live.
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Albus Dumbledore, in the first Harry Potter movie.
Dumbledore was referring to the magical mirror of Erised, in which Harry could see his parents. He could easily have spent all his time in front of that mirror, wasting away his life, dreaming the impossible dream. Some dreamers live in their dreams, "preferring illusion to despair." And that's no way to live...
Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
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Henry David Thoreau
Dreams that go without action are not very useful.
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Patrick Awuah (NPR, Dec. 30, 2005)
By all means, dream your dreams. But you need to act upon your dreams as well. Dr. Seuss put his own spin on this idea...
If you want to find beasts you don't see every day,
You have to go places quite out-of-the-way.
You have to go places no others can get to.
You have to get cold, and you have to get wet too.
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Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), "If I Ran the Zoo"
It's amazing that such a profound thought comes from a children's book. In case its applicability to the game biz is unclear, let me hammer it in.
Essentially, Dr. Seuss is saying "If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done."
If you want to get a job that's very desirable,
There just ain't no easy way to go about it.
Be prepared to work hard to get what you want.
But that ain't so bad, as Dean Kamen said in another quote somewhere around here. (Haven't seen it yet? Keep reading. Don't find it? Just search the page for "Dean Kamen.")
All animals except man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.
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Samuel Butler
You've probably heard, "I work to live; I don't live to work." Well, that's "reverse wisdom." The best way to enjoy a work-filled life is to pursue work that you enjoy. That's exactly what Dean Kamen and Joseph Campbell were talking about.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
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Henry David Thoreau
The only time "Success" comes before "Work" is in the dictionary.
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Mark Twain
You better handle yo bidnass, or yo bidnass gonna handle you. Please believe it.
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Rapper Bull Hefner
I met Bull (not his real name, and I couldn't find anything on this name for a rapper via both Google and Yahoo) on an airplane heading to Austin in December 2005, where he was going to open for big stars at a concert. This is the advice he gives young aspiring rappers who think a street attitude will see them through life in the music biz. Bull told me a story about how he'd once ruined his own shot at an album because he'd gone over the line with the wrong music producer. His quote has two meanings.
1) Street attitude is fine on the stage and on the street, but it's a business, and you have to be businesslike when you're around the biz people.
2) When there's business to be done, you're the guy who has to do it. If you don't take care of your duties and pay your bills, bad things are gonna happen.
If something's hard to do, it's not worth doing.
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Homer Simpson (Spinal Tap episode)
Another wonderful bit of "reverse wisdom" from the Simpsons. Whenever Homer gives Bart advice, you know you'd probably be better off believing exactly the opposite. The real wisdom is, of course, "Anything worth doing is hard to do." It's often true that the hard way to do something usually turns out to be better than the easy way.
The flogging will continue until morale improves.
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Unknown
"Reverse wisdom." If you become a producer someday, or a team leader, just remember that you can get more flies with honey, but moose and cows like salt, and chocolate is bad for dogs. Flattery will get you everywhere, don't beat a dead horse, he's dead, Jim.
If circumstances hold you back, always seek another way to achieve your goals.
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Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo may not have actually written words exactly like this - but as was portrayed in a documentary, this is one of the many "codes" by which Da Vinci lived his life.
Employees within a hierarchical organization advance to their highest level of competence, then get promoted to a level where they are incompetent, and remain in that position.
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The Peter Principle (Laurence J. Peter, 1919-1990)
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
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Parkinson's Law (Prof. Cyril Northcote Parkinson)
When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"
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Sydney J. Harris
We always hear "Life is short, play hard." But what about "Life is short, work hard"?
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Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway Personal Transporter), UpClose, ABC, 2002
It may come as a shock to some aspiring game designers to hear that the making of games involves work. Especially those aspirants who think that "work" is a dirty word. Well, it isn't. For those of us who are passionate about what we do, work is play. If this is a foreign concept to you, you would do well to rethink your preconceived notions about work.
Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.
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Mark Twain
Especially true for game design - designing games is the best game!
The Second Golden Rule:
He who has the gold makes the rules.
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Unknown
A game designer is just an employee in a professional situation. When you're being paid to design a game, you have to design it the way the employer (or client) wants. You can either suck it up and be professional, or you won't be getting paid. Those are your only two choices. It doesn't matter who is right - what matters is who is writing the checks.
It's so easy to condemn, so hard to create.
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Homer Simpson
I never heard the saying before I heard it on The Simpsons, but I immediately recognized its application for game designers. When you pitch an idea, ten people (mostly executives and marketing types) will raise reasons why it'll never succeed. But they couldn't come up with an idea that would work to save their lives! A game designer has to be able to anticipate these objections and either change the idea accordingly, or come up with arguments against the naysaying. (Note: the latter rarely works.)
At first, art imitates life. Then life will imitate art. Then life will find its very existence from the arts.
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Fyodor Dostoevsky
Someone asked me once why game designers didn't create imaginative worlds unlike the world we live in - fantastic impossible architecture, fantastic impossible skies... I told him everybody was trying to emulate real life, and that it was still a great challenge to emulate it realistically. Game art was imitating life - I was surprised he didn't already get that. And now, have you noticed how movies, and the military, use principles we see all the time in games? Life is imitating game art today. And when we're all wearing augmented reality glasses, our lives will find their existence from such constant connectedness - we'll be parts of the hive mind when the singularity arrives.
On PLANNING
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
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John Lennon
Man plans and God laughs.
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Yiddish proverb
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.
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Poet Robert Burns (Slightly reworded to suit modern ears.)
All the above make the same point. Life is unpredictable. But don't let that stymie you from making a plan...
Sometimes the vagaries of life's twists and turns could be nudged in the right direction if you knew what your eventual goal was.
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Dale Furutani, Kill the Shogun
You gotta have a plan, or you're just clowning around.
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Dr. Phil McGraw
You can't predict. You can prepare.
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MassMutual slogan
Endeavor for the best, plan for the worst.
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Unknown
The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.
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Dave Ramsey
The plan is nothing. Planning is everything.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
The act of planning is powerful preparation. It's like exercising a muscle. By dint of having gotten good at planning, you become good at dealing with the unplanned events life will throw your way.
Adapt, improvise, overcome.
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Lee Marvin as Major Reisman, The Dirty Dozen
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
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Mark Twain
Even generals plan huge conquests from little tents.
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Unknown
It doesn't matter if you're just a Street Corner Joe. You have it within you to accomplish great things. Learn. Plan. Prepare. Execute. Adapt. Improvise. Conquer.
"Lo barato sale caro." The cheap comes out expensive.
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Judge Marilyn Milian
When planning a game project, plan to pay what a thing is worth. Trying to go low-budget can (and usually does) come back and bite you later.
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