Max Brand The False Rider (a western novel) describes a safecracker or lock picker and the tools of the trade …
He did not need most of those tools for the delicate task which was in his hands now, but he had laid out a great portion of them around him. They inspired him with the recollection of many another knotty problem in the past which, he, unaided had solved.
A similar case could be made with the cook or chef in relation to a batterie de cuisine: a set of unused tools is useful because of having been inspiration.
And so for day 581
16.07.2008