Ron Azuma’s A graduate school survival guide (subtitled “So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!”) opens each section with a quote:
Introduction
“To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”
- Chinese proverbWhy get a Ph.D.?
“Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves. In the beginning you’re Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you’re Happy.”
- yours trulyAcademia is a business
“Remember the Golden Rule: Those who have the gold make the rules.”Graduate school is a different ballgame
“Don’t let school get in the way of your education.”
- Mark Twain“The IQ test was invented to predict academic performance, nothing else. If we wanted something that would predict life success, we’d have to invent another test completely.”
- Robert ZajoncInitiative
“The difference between people who exercise initiative and those who don’t is literally the difference between night and day. I’m not talking about a 25 to 50 percent difference in effectiveness; I’m talking about a 5000-plus percent difference, particularly if they are smart, aware, and sensitive to others.”
- Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleTenacity
“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.”
- Louis PasteurFlexibility
“Back in graduate school, I’d learned how to survive without funding, power, or even office space. Grad students are lowest in the academic hierarchy, and so they have to squeeze resources from between the cracks. When you’re last on the list for telescope time, you make your observations by hanging around the mountaintop, waiting for a slice of time between other observers. When you need an electronic gizmo in the lab, you borrow it in the evening, use it all night, and return it before anyone notices. I didn’t learn much about planetary physics, but weaseling came naturally.”
- Clifford Stoll, The Cuckoo’s Egg“The Chinese call luck opportunity and they say it knocks every day on your door. Some people hear it; some do not. It’s not enough to hear opportunity knock. You must let him in, greet him, make friends and work together.”
- Bernard GittelsonInterpersonal skills
“For humans, honesty is a matter of degree. Engineers are always honest in matters of technology and human relationships. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep engineers away from customers, romantic interests, and other people who can’t handle the truth.”
- Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle“I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”
- Isaac NewtonOrganizational skills
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”Communications skills
“What is written without effort is, in general, read without pleasure.”
- Samuel Johnson“Present to inform, not to impress; if you inform, you will impress.”
- Fred BrooksChoosing an adviser and a committee
“Some students in the lab are only nominally supervised by a thesis advisor. This can work out well for people who are independent self-starters. It has the advantage that you have only your own neuroses to deal with, not your advisor’s as well.”
- from “How to do research at the MIT AI Lab”Balance and Perspective
“Life goes by so fast, that if you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.”
- from the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off“Generally speaking, people provide better maintenance for their cars than for their own bodies.”
- Scott Adams, The Dilbert FutureThe Ph.D. job hunt
On résumés: “The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form.”
- Stanley RandallReal World, The (n.): Where a computer science student goes after graduation; used pejoratively (“Poor slob, he got his degree and had to go out into the REAL WORLD.”). Among programmers, discussing someone in residence there is not unlike talking about a deceased person.”
- the fortune programConclusion
“Dissertations are not finished; they are abandoned.”
- Fred Brooks