Also seems this post is in direct response to a question he received at his Q/A. A link to the blog post about his talk was posted by another user just recently (can't seem to find the user atm), http://www.rubyrailways.com/dhh-fuck-the-real-world/
"Look underneath the covers of an overnight success story and you usually see a lot of work, a lot of years."
I remember reading this on Time or Newsweek, back in 1996 or something. Marc Andreessen was on the cover of the magazine. It was quite an inspiring read.