_why's Creation Quote

Discussions center on a quote by _why the Lucky Stiff urging people to create things rather than being defined by their tastes, which narrow and exclude, with debates on the value of creation for its own sake versus criticism, business motives, or talent limitations.

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#5370
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Keywords

AI BitTorrent BTW tastes create things people create create don create exclude narrow defined ability creation

Sample Comments

richardw Apr 16, 2012 View on HN

"when you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create." - _why

steveklabnik Jan 11, 2011 View on HN

"when you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create." - _why

Jun8 Oct 31, 2017 View on HN

Quote along the same lines from _why that I really like: "When you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability."

rrtwo Sep 2, 2015 View on HN

"when you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create."

richardw Jan 17, 2012 View on HN

"when you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create."- _why the lucky stiff

jarek Jan 11, 2011 View on HN

Not all people who create can critique, especially their own creations.

paulpauper Jun 2, 2025 View on HN

there are already plenty of people who create for the sake of creating. but some sort of tangible or quantifiable return is nice, too.

michael_michael Aug 17, 2011 View on HN

Additionally, to quote _why: "When you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. Your tastes only narrow and exclude people. So create."

imgabe Feb 6, 2012 View on HN

Sometimes there's just something you want to exist that doesn't and you need to make it. Look at how many artists and writers toiled at their craft for their entire lives without any reward. I doubt many of them had the goal of becoming more powerful in order to consume more stuff. At least if they did, there were no doubt countless easier ways they could have gone about it.

zacharyvoase Jan 4, 2026 View on HN

Not everyone is supposed to create.