A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it?" The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?" The teacher thought for a moment, "20 years."
—Zen Kōans
Men fated to be happy need not haste.
—Chinese proverbs from olden times, Peter Pauper Press
At the thought that it wouldn't be long before she saw Professor Hora again, Momo's courage revived. 'Please,' she said to Cassiopeia, 'couldn't we go a bit faster?' 'MORE HASTE LESS SPEED,' came the reply, and the tortoise crawled on even more slowly than before. Yet Momo noticed, as she had the first time, that they made better progress that way. It was as if the street beneath them glided past more quickly the slower they went. That, of course, was the secret ... the slower you went the better progress you made, and the more you hurried the slower your rate of advance.
—Momo by Michael Ende, translated by J. Maxwell Brownjohn
/misc | Jun 02, 2019