alt Hacker NewsThis is cliché, but I really liked, “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast.”[1] I keep saying this to my daughters. Sometimes, when I asked them to “do it faster,” they would respond with “What happened to Slow is Smooth?”
I’ve explained a few times that the idea is to practice deliberately, slowly, and take time to learn things, so when you do it next, you can do it smoothly and become faster.
That saying about ducks gliding across the water in perfect calm, while beneath the surface, their feet work furiously, unseen. Yesterday, I stumbled upon the terminology, in Italian, Sprezzatura.[2] Do difficult things while making it appear effortless, the art of making something difficult look easy, or maintaining a nonchalant demeanor while performing complex tasks.
To do Sprezzatura, one has to Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast.
1. https://brajeshwar.com/2025/slow-is-smooth-smooth-is-fast/
Apropos of "Sprezzatura"; you will find plenty of worldly wisdom in The Pocket Oracle and the Art of Prudence by Baltasar Gracian translated by Jeremy Robbins.
Two aphorisms of relevance to this thread are;
-- Aphorism 174:
Don’t live in a hurry. To know how to parcel things out is to know how to enjoy them. With many people their happiness is all over with life still to spare. They waste happy moments, which they don’t enjoy, and then want to go back later when they find themselves so far down the road. They are life’s postilions, adding their own headlong rush to time’s inexorable march. They want to devour in a day what could barely be digested in a lifetime. They anticipate every happiness, bolt down the years still to come, and since they’re always in such a rush, quickly finish everything. Moderation is necessary even in our desire for knowledge so as not to know things badly. There are more days than joys to fill them. Take enjoyment slowly and tasks quickly. It’s good when tasks are completed, but bad when happiness is over.
-- Aphorism 221:
Don’t be annoyingly impetuous – committing yourself or others. Some people are stumbling blocks to their own dignity and to someone else’s, and are always on the point of doing something stupid. You’ll come across them easily and get rid of them with difficulty. They don’t mind causing a hundred annoyances a day. They are quarrelsome by nature and so contradict everyone and everything. Their judgement is always back to front, and so they disapprove of everything. But the people who most try good sense are those who do nothing well and speak ill of everything. For there are many monsters in incongruity’s vast territory.