Chesterton

"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." G. K. Chesterton

A conversation with my friend Phebe made me think, today, of this quote. A couple of quarters ago, I read the essay from which it originates. In essence, Chesterton says that there are some things in life that require experts -- think of astronauts or dentists. But then there are those tasks that we really want a man to do for himself -- blowing his own nose, for instance, but also writing a poem, or raising a child.

Comments

  1. As long as you try hard it doesn't matter what the outcome.

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  2. Not that poets and nannies aren't good to have around. But it seems to me that one way to do really badly as a parent is to hire an expert to take over.

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