Great achievements in art, literature, engineering, science, or any other discipline are only made possible by the many prototypes, rough drafts, and failed ideas which preceded them. Assuming elegance to be the essential characteristic of any masterpiece, it is astonishing how much background work is required to reduce something to its most powerful and essential elements. Even more surprising, perhaps, is the relative obscurity that such work inherits at the precise moment the goal is distilled. Fools may then gain the advantage of our ignorance.
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