Even good excuses, really ...

Even good excuses, really good ones, don\'t help very much. 
 Explanations, on the other hand, are both scarce and useful. 
 And accurate forecasts and insightful intuition are priceless.
Even good excuses, really good ones, don't help very much. Explanations, on the other hand, are both scarce and useful. And accurate forecasts and insightful intuition are priceless.

More phrases

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.
We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Quotes from the same author

The public square is more public than ever, but minds are rarely changed in 140 character bursts and by selfies.
It's not reckless, because when we leap, when we dive in, when we begin, only begin, we bring our true nature to the project, we make it personal and urgent. And it's not abandon, not in the sense that we've abandoned our senses or our responsibility. In fact, abandoning the fear of fear that is holding us back is the single best way not to abandon the work, the pure execution of the work. Later, there's time to backpedal and water down. But right now, reckless please.
There are lots of good reasons to abandon a project. Having a little competition is not one of them.
Yes, I think it's okay to abandon the big, established, stuck tribe. It's okay to say to them, "You're not going where I need to go, and there's no way I'm going to persuade all of you to follow me. So rather than standing here watching the opportunities fade away, I'm heading off. I'm betting some of you, the best of you, will follow me.
I intentionally abandoned the hard stuff early on because not only do I think it's useless, I think it's a distraction.