Linus Torvalds Quotes

You can cooperate and not compromise your core values. But I'm a realist with the philosophy that sometimes you've got to take bites out of the apple instead of the whole apple.

In the future, instead of striving to be right at a high cost, it will be more appropriate to be flexible and plural at a lower cost. If you cannot accurately predict the future then you must flexibly be prepared to deal with various possible futures.

The common agenda both sides seem to share is: Whatever works.

I'm just not a purist. You set goals and you have to work with everyone to figure out how to get what you can.

My only definition is that I am a pragmatist.

I do not come bearing a party label on my sleeve - or a quick fix in my back pocket. I do not come with a rigid ideology in my heart - or a soul that tells me to go it alone. I do not come to uproot tradition - or to be imprisoned by it.

Sometimes a little compromise isn't a bad thing. You don't need to be precious about it.

You have to be very flexible and understand as a director, especially as a writer/director, that you cannot hang onto stuff really hard. You have to be ready to accept those happy accidents and to anticipate that they are going to happen and capitalize on them.

Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable

I'm a compromiser and a maneuverer. I try to get something. That's the way our system works.

I learned over time that you do not go for the perfect solution….You do what is doable and then you want to try and do a little bit more.

An ideologue believes that what is right will work. A pragmatist believes that what works is right.

We are pragmatists. We don't stick to any ideology. Does it work? Let's try it, and if it does work, fine, let's continue it. If it doesn't work, toss it out, try another one. We are not enamored with any ideology.

I'm pragmatic.

I am not a five-year-plan type. I tend to put one foot in front of the other and to allow things to unfold.

I have a long list of filmmakers I want to work with. But I have also always had this touch of reality, that if it doesn't happen, it's okay.

One good thing about being in business is you learn to compromise. And so you learn to strike a deal that maybe isn't what you were looking for but is better than what you've got.

Do not make grand plans. Be flexible.

I believe in, 'I do it my way, and you do it your way, and then see what works' pattern. I think that comes with me having worked as an assistant director earlier, which I really enjoyed.

I'm a great collaborator. I really am. I will steal anyone's idea if it is a good one.

I think I'm pragmatic.

I don't see what difference it makes what side it's [your bread] buttered on. I always eat both sides.

Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles.

Nobody does a lot of plotting. They can't. Everybody wants to do that in life, but I think it's almost impossible. Opportunities present themselves, and you say, "Hey, is this interesting to me?" Is this something you might want to pursue? Maybe you'll get it, maybe you won't. It really does have to do with a "one foot in front of the other" kind of thing, I think.

I like to keep my options very open and try not to focus on trying to get something. That's just how I'm playing it and it's worked so far.