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lioeters • today at 8:39 AM • 2 replies • view on HN

Like that quote in Le Petit Prince, real intelligence is knowing what not to build, what can be eliminated until only what's necessary is left.

> La perfection est atteinte non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer.

> Perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.


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n4r9 • today at 9:37 AM

That quotation is in fact from "Wind, Sand, and Stars", the memoir of the same author.

On the same theme:

> the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience

- Einstein

> I would have written a shorter letter, but did not have the time

- Pascal

> Simplicity is a great virtue but requires hard work to achieve and education to appreciate, and, to make matters worse, complexity sells better.

- Dijkstra.

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