Brilliant Quote!

I saw a brilliant quote today which I thought I should store/share:

Of true knowledge at any time, a good part is merely convenient, necessary indeed to the worker, but not to an understanding of his subject: One can judge a building without knowing where to buy the bricks; one can understand a violin sonata without knowing how to score for the instrument. The work may in fact be better understood without a knowledge of the details of its manufacture, of attention to these tends to distract from meaning and effect.

– Jacques Barzun

In fact, I often also believe that the opposite is true. And that to enjoy the work truly, you need to know the background and the effort taken to really come up with it. Both these concepts work in their own ways.