Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidderis an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. He has received praise and awards for other works, including his biography of Paul Farmer, a doctor and anthropologist, titled Mountains Beyond Mountains...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth12 November 1945
CountryUnited States of America
design brain giants
In the early days, computers inspired widespread awe and the popular press dubbed them giant brains. In fact, the computer's power resembled that of a bulldozer; it did not harness subtlety, though subtlety went into its design.
differences progress development
Obviously, computers have made differences. They have fostered the development of spaceships- as well as a great increase in junk mail.
ocean humility tiny
The ocean doesn't care about you. It makes your boat feel tiny. The oceans are great promoters of religion, or at least of humility-but not in everyone.
giving needs haitian
God gives us humans everything we need to flourish, but he's not the one who's supposed to divvy up the loot. That charge was laid upon us
childhood house happy-childhood
If you had an essentially happy childhood, that tends to dwell with you.
book good-day writing
At first, I spend about four hours a day writing. Toward the end of a book, I spend up to 16 hours a day on it, because all I want to do is make it good and get it done.
teacher skills pyramids
Public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid.
airplane people alive
That's when I feel most alive, he told me once on an airplane, when I'm helping people.
ocean swimming may
... "You may not see the ocean, but right now we are in the middle of the ocean, and we have to keep swimming.
thinking clothes water
The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want you to dress in a suit and go get them food and water. Comma.
believe tired sleep
I do believe in God. I think God has given so much power to people, and intelligence, and said, 'Well, you are on your own. Maybe I'm tired, I need a nap. You are mature. Why don't you look after yourselves?' And I think He's been sleeping too much.
goal imitation emphasis
...Attempts at imitation would put the emphasis where it didn't belong. The goal was to improve the lives of others, not oneself.
order goes-on strange
In order to go on with our lives, we are always capable of making the ominous into the merely strange.
ideas two roots
And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.