[MD] Romantic/Classic knowledge vs quality

[Platt Holden]

Hi Mel,

> mel:
> A boat builder with whom I used to work
> frequently repeated a phrase: 'beauty is free'.
> The first few times he said it, the timing was 
> a mystery to me--Why did he say that, now?
> 
> Eventually I got it.  He was prodding me 
> towards seeing that how I made the structural
> pieces of the boat look were more important than 
> the simple plan-form of structure.  Analogous
> to how different the musical score is from the 
> performance.
> 
> Inevitably, the 'beautiful' elements found 
> efficiencies that the purely functional lacked.
> What seemed an accident or a trick was instead
> a deeped insight.  Whenever I made a part 
> more beautiful in appearance, it was also stronger,
> better fit, more efficient, etc.  It was so, because 
> I had unknowingly paid attention to more parts 
> than simply the abutting or adjacent bits.
> 
> thanks--mel

Beautifully said. Beautifully true.

Quality through and through.

Many thanks.

Platt