--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the…" description: "\"It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary elements from my work.\" — Andrew Lakey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg" --- # It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary… ![“It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary elements from my work.” quote by Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg) > “It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary elements from my work.” [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He spent two decades removing unnecessary elements from his work, achieving clarity. **In simple terms:** Removed excess for clarity. Key Takeaway Continuously prune to improve work quality. Themes simplicity clarity process improvement Mood reflective focused Type practical philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - product development - personal organization Key Concepts design thinking minimalism Questions to Reflect On - What criteria guide removal? - How do you know when work is “necessary”? A Different Perspective Over‑pruning may eliminate useful complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Simplicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simplicity/) ## Related quotes > [As designers we have a great responsibility. I believe designers should eliminate the unnecessary. 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Eliminate the unnecessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/analyze-who-is-in-your-circle-eliminate-the-unnecessary/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [“Isolate then eliminate any unnecessary time wasting habits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/isolate-then-eliminate-any-unnecessary-time-wasting-habits/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [A single tax return for Quebecers will eliminate unnecessary paperwork for families and businesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-scheer/a-single-tax-return-for-quebecers-will-eliminate-unnecessary/) [Andrew Scheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-scheer/) > [When I was 20 years old, I got cast in 'Spring Awakening' and got swept up in this experience where it was kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/when-i-was-20-years-old-i-got-cast-in-spring-awakening-and-got-swept/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [My wife and I were happy for 20 years. Then we met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/my-wife-and-i-were-happy-for-20-years-then-we-met/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [Records became much cruder in the last 20 years. Let's put it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-garfunkel/records-became-much-cruder-in-the-last-20-years-let-s-put-it-that-way/) [Art Garfunkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-garfunkel/) > [Makeup is only fun if it's occasional and capricious - just like it's a treat to have an empty day ahead, but it wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-coren-mitchell/makeup-is-only-fun-if-it-s-occasional-and-capricious-just-like-it-s-a/) [Victoria Coren Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-coren-mitchell/) > [For 20 years, I've been running an institute in Chennai where serious dancers from Kerala come with aspirations of becoming professional dancers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shobana/for-20-years-i-ve-been-running-an-institute-in-chennai-where-serious/) [Shobana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shobana/) > [“but 20 years from now it will be bizarre if you walk into a store and the store doesn’t know who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-scoble/but-20-years-from-now-it-will-be-bizarre-if-you-walk-into-a-store-and/) [Robert Scoble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-scoble/) > [I have so many people come up to me, 20-some years later, and saying, "I loved you in Jawbreaker!".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-benz/i-have-so-many-people-come-up-to-me-20-some-years-later-and-saying-i/) [Julie Benz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-benz/) > [If my wisdom could get support from officials, I think society would move forward 20 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chen-guangbiao/if-my-wisdom-could-get-support-from-officials-i-think-society-would/) [Chen Guangbiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chen-guangbiao/) ## More by Andrew Lakey > [Art is the consciousness of currency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/art-is-the-consciousness-of-currency/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) > [Unencountered Language is the court and spark between words we recognize and those we don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/unencountered-language-is-the-court-and-spark-between-words-we/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) > [Language is the currency of consciousness. We speak to fill the void. We write it down to remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/language-is-the-currency-of-consciousness-we-speak-to-fill-the-void/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) > [People want to find a 'meaning' in everything and everyone. That's the problem - there is no meaning in everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/people-want-to-find-a-meaning-in-everything-and-everyone-that-s-the-2/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) > [To understand an artist is to be a genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/to-understand-an-artist-is-to-be-a-genius/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) [Explore all 6 Andrew Lakey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) ## More Elements quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-was-in-high-school-and-i-had-an-independent-album-out-and-we-kept/) [Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [I avoided nudity unless a film couldn't be told without those scenes. 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Sometimes the actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/music-and-language-are-a-vital-element-we-as-actors-and-directors/) [Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [To me, the most important elements in a theatre are the actors and the texts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naseeruddin-shah/to-me-the-most-important-elements-in-a-theatre-are-the-actors-and-the/) [Naseeruddin Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naseeruddin-shah/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [In America there is not one single element of civilization that is not made to depend, in the end, upon public opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/in-america-there-is-not-one-single-element-of-civilization-that-is/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) [Browse all 3,647 Elements quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary elements from my work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Lakey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-the-unnecessary-elements-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Elements" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-the-unnecessary-elements-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f91/andrew-lakey-54539_elements_it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-th_2972389.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It has taken me 20 years to eliminate the unnecessary elements from my work.” — Andrew Lakey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrew Lakey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It has taken me 20 years...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-the-unnecessary-elements-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/it-has-taken-me-20-years-to-eliminate-the-unnecessary-elements-from/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```