Re: The Nym Doth Protest Too Much...

["R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>]

At 4:58 PM +0100 on 1/3/00, Ray Hirschfeld wrote:


<A fairly accurate description of the founding of FC97, somewhat less so,
respectfully, of IFCA. Someday, when I feel like it, I'll write one of my
own, one in which we'll probably agree about the facts, if not the
interpretation thereof, and put it on the web somewhere -- if I can't sell
it first. :-)>


By way of *some* answer, however, I offer the following, with no malice
intended aforethought.  As John Astin used to say on 'Night Court',
"...but, I'm feeling much better *now*...":

1. On credit where credit is due:

"One man, in an afternoon, can think up enough work to keep a thousand men
busy for a year." -- Washington A. Roebling, Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn
Bridge

2. On children, many-fathered, and fatherless:

"Success has many fathers, but failure is a(n)
[orphan/mother/bastard/...]." -- Much-mangled cliche

and, while we're malapproping the Bard,

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." --
Shakespeare, 'King Lear' ;-)

3. On the new enterprise:

"Always own what you build, always run what you own, never hire someone you
can't fire, and never, *ever*, work any more than you're paid for." --
Robert A. Hettinga, 'Hettinga's Rules for New Ideas (Revised, 1/4/98)'


:-).

Cheers,
RAH
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'