6 ms·
Reminds of an exchange, potentially misattributed ([1]) to Picasso: A woman approaches Picasso in a restaurant, asks him to scribble something on a napkin an
by aemreunal 6y ago
Reminds of an exchange, potentially misattributed ([1]) to Picasso:
A woman approaches Picasso in a restaurant, asks him to scribble something on a napkin and says she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, "That will be $10,000."
"But you did that in thirty seconds," the astonished woman replied.
"No," Picasso said. "It has taken me forty years to do that."
[1]: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/01/14/time-art/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/01/14/time-art/
- jacquesm 6y agoA woman approaches Yves Saint Laurent, "Oh Yves, I must have a unique hat for tonights' gala". The master seats her, grabs a bunch of ribbons and proceeds to drape her hair in what turns out to be an extremely nice and harmonic creation, and all that in the space of 30 minutes. The woman is ecstatic: "Oh Yves, I knew you would come through, how much do I owe you?" "That will be 10,000 Francs" "10,000 Francs? For 30 minutes?" Without a word the couturier unwinds the ribbons, spools them up nicely and hands the spools to the lady. "The ribbon you get for free.".
- StavrosK 6y agoSurely this would land much better if the lady's reaction were "10,000 francs? For a ribbon?"
- jacquesm 6y agoThat may have been the original, I heard it many years ago.
- bryanrasmussen 6y agoI wonder how much the person who makes up all these amusing anecdotes about famous people having to quibble about their payment rate gets paid. Probably not enough.
- dspillett 6y agoThe one we were told at University was the contractor who charged £5,000 for a few hours work fixing a design, which in the end took five pencil marks. When asked to break down the costs of the job he resubmitted the invoice as: 5x 1 pencil mark = 5x £1 = £5, 1x knowing where to make the marks = 1x £4,995 = £4,995, with an offer of a discount on future pencil marks if the invoice was paid promptly.
- debtitor 6y agoAlso told as “$5 for the hammer, $4,995 for knowing where to hit it”.
- webmaven 6y ago> Also told as “$5 for the hammer, $4,995 for knowing where to hit it”. Is that the one about the carpenter fixing the squeaky floorboard?
- mindslight 6y agoMore like an MCSE fixing a server.
- rvnx 6y agoWhy should knowledge or experience be charged ? Isn't it in the interest of the whole humanity to be able to charge only for materials ?
- jacquesm 6y agoI have a very large file with lots of 1s and 0s in it, you can have them for free. If you want them ordered and that ordering takes me a year or so then I expect to be paid. Knowledge and experience are the result of an investment in time and effort on account of the person with the knowledge. They usually expect some kind of return on that investment unless it was done for hobby purposes. Whether 'regular' labor and mental labor are compensated fairly is something worth discussing but 'materials' are rarely the major cost of anything.
- cafard 6y agoThis sounds like a version of Whistler's statement when he was suing John Ruskin for libel: Holker: "The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?" Whistler: "No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Abbott_McNeill_Whistler#Ruskin_trial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Abbott_McNeill_Whistler#...
- foxyv 6y agoThis reminds me of the story my Dad told me a lot when I was younger. A factory manager calls a repairman to fix a malfunctioning piece of equipment. The repairman shows up, looks at the machine and taps it once with a hammer. The machine works great again! Then he hands the manager an invoice for $4000. The manager is indignant, "That's ridiculous! I want an itemized invoice!" On the invoice is the following: * Hit machine with hammer: $1 * Knowing where to hit: $3999