None of them are absolutes. Just as we do not expect that "simple" before "fast" means "the code must be 100% as simple as it could possibly be before we begin

None of them are absolutes. Just as we do not expect that "simple" before "fast" means "the code must be 100% as simple as it could possibly be before we begin even thinking about speed", we do not mean "the code must be 100% correct in every possible way before we even start thinking about simpleness" It is relative preferences, more about what takes precedence over what than an absolute measure. Nothing is ever perfectly correct, nor perfectly simple nor perfectly fast.