A knotty piece of timber must have smooth wedges. – English proverb quoted by John Ray, 1670

I think objects made of wood by children, left to their own devices, if such there be, will assay ten percent wood, ninety percent nails. – Robert Paul Smith, “Where Did You Go?” “Out.” “What Did You Do?” “Nothing.”, 195

What is a workman without his tooles? – Proverb quoted by Heywood, 1546

For a craftsman like my father, nothing is more exasperating than to witness tool abuse. In particular, I remember a steel tape measure he gave me after I had somehow managed to lose the first twelve inches of it. – Richard Menzies, “If I Were A Carpenter,” RDMenzies.com, 2011