by Connie K. Duckworth

When I read about colossal development missteps, like the $104 million sewage system in Falluja, Iraq, funded for five years but never finished, that we’re walking away from, I can hear my mother’s voice reciting the litany of common sense truisms that I now try to drum into my children’s brains:

It’s quality, not quantity that counts.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Good things come in small packages.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better.
(I’m sure you can add to the list.)