You'll achieve much more by being consistently reliable than by being occasionally extraordinary.

Redundancy is blessed, but efficiency is divine.

Redundancies are much more predictable and transparent than theoretical opportunities to add value. My focus is always on the downside. Overly optimistic assumptions lead to the graveyard of corporate acquisitions.

Nature may not be benign, but she is reliable.

time and truth. Two constants you can rely on. One shows up for the first time every time while the other never leaves.

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable.

In my mind, partial failure is always better than delusory success.

If all else fails immortality can always be assured by adequate error.

Time is still the best critic, and patience the best teacher.

Which models are the most reliable? Well, obviously, the models that come from hard science and engineering are the most reliable models on this earth. And engineering quality control — at least the guts of it that matters to you and me and people who are not professional engineers — is very much based on the elementary mathematics of Fermat and Pascal: It costs so much, and you get so much less likelihood of it breaking if you spend this much. It’s all elementary high school mathematics.

Tyranny always has its rationale.

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.

Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.

Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.