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

The carpenter dresses his plank, the tongue of his foreplane whistles its wild ascending lisp… – Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass

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

Put your soul into your work, not your hand… – State Safety News, September 1916, published by the University of Arizona Bureau