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About this quote

What does it mean?
Quality is something we directly experience, not something we first think about in abstract terms.
In plain terms
We feel quality before we try to define it.
What can you take from it?
Trust your immediate sense of quality.

Where it applies

  • evaluating art
  • making design decisions

Putting it to work

  • choose based on feeling
  • avoid over‑analysis

Questions to consider

  • How do you know when something is truly quality?
  • Can you separate feeling from analysis?

Another view

What feels like quality can be subjective and vary between people.

More from Robert M. Pirsig

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  2. The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. -zen & motorcycle maintenance

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  3. How does thought take shape?

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