>Apple needs to decide if it wants to be “right,” or if it wants to be happy.
I think Siracusa is referencing a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, spoken by Slartibartfast as part of an exchange with Arthur Dent:
>"I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
>"And are you?"
>"No, that's where it all falls down, of course."
>"Pity," said Arthur with sympathy. "It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise."
I love the book, but that particular line has stuck with me for quite a while. I try to use it as a guide whenever I start to lean toward being right over happiness. Works for relationships, code reviews, whatever you like.
A good friend likes to say, “being right is worth nothing.”
In college a lecturer said, “would you rather be right, or get what you want?” He wasn’t a professor because he knew the steps required would make him unhappy. And completing them would only get him “prestige.” As he said, that’s what they give you when they don’t have anything valuable to offer.
You can try for happiness without actually achieving it. I'd prefer to be happy and right; sometimes I'm neither. Preferring one is no guarantee you'll get either.
I've always known it as a classic adage in relationship contexts, particularly romantic relationships, where for the sake of the relationship it can make sense to stop trying to win the argument. I don't know if the saying is a reference to the book or if the book is referencing the saying.
>Apple needs to decide if it wants to be “right,” or if it wants to be happy.
I think Siracusa is referencing a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, spoken by Slartibartfast as part of an exchange with Arthur Dent:
>"I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
>"And are you?"
>"No, that's where it all falls down, of course."
>"Pity," said Arthur with sympathy. "It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise."
I love the book, but that particular line has stuck with me for quite a while. I try to use it as a guide whenever I start to lean toward being right over happiness. Works for relationships, code reviews, whatever you like.