--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was a carpenter for a time and…" description: "\"I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.\" — Jack Vance" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg" --- # I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what… ![“I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.” quote by Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg) > “I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.” [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A carpenter's work is constantly observed, highlighting the importance of craftsmanship and reputation. **In simple terms:** Work is always watched. Key Takeaway Maintain high standards always. Themes craft reputation visibility Mood thoughtful serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - client projects - public performances - online portfolios - teaching Key Concepts skill mastery public perception Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle being observed? - What steps protect your reputation? A Different Perspective Mistakes are magnified under scrutiny. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carpenter/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [As I mentioned, I was a carpenter for a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/as-i-mentioned-i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Everybody out there watches the show and has expectations of wanting to be an 'Idol', but we're going to teach them how much hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-bice/everybody-out-there-watches-the-show-and-has-expectations-of-wanting/) [Bo Bice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-bice/) > [The fact is, it was a big show. We were a part of that show. Everybody watches for different reasons. There were some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-ashford/the-fact-is-it-was-a-big-show-we-were-a-part-of-that-show-everybody/) [Matthew Ashford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-ashford/) > [I always wanted to participate in something where I can show my talent, my capabilities, and also reach a mass audience. Everybody watches 'Bigg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-fatehi/i-always-wanted-to-participate-in-something-where-i-can-show-my/) [Nora Fatehi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-fatehi/) > [Everybody watches Bruce Lee. That's a legend. He's the man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astro/everybody-watches-bruce-lee-that-s-a-legend-he-s-the-man/) [Astro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astro/) > [Sometimes I dream to be alone and that nobody would talk to me. But I understand that football is really important and that everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-balotelli/sometimes-i-dream-to-be-alone-and-that-nobody-would-talk-to-me-but-i/) [Mario Balotelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-balotelli/) > [I don't know anybody who goes horseback riding at sunset, but everybody watches TV and eats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/panos-cosmatos/i-don-t-know-anybody-who-goes-horseback-riding-at-sunset-but/) [Panos Cosmatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/panos-cosmatos/) > [Don't give anybody up. . . or leave anybody out. . . . There's room for everything, and time for everybody, if you take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/don-t-give-anybody-up-or-leave-anybody-out-there-s-room-for/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Wit will always stand the test of time. That's why everybody loved Big L.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-the-butcher/wit-will-always-stand-the-test-of-time-that-s-why-everybody-loved-big/) [Benny the Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-the-butcher/) > [I think that with these streaming shows, sometimes it takes a little time for everybody to - because they know they have time, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/i-think-that-with-these-streaming-shows-sometimes-it-takes-a-little/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [There comes a time for everybody when words and reasons can become such a great weariness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/there-comes-a-time-for-everybody-when-words-and-reasons-can-become/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [Nearly a decade of time is enough for everybody to change, quite a bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-bledel/nearly-a-decade-of-time-is-enough-for-everybody-to-change-quite-a-bit/) [Alexis Bledel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-bledel/) > [I have three friendships that have lasted a long time, but everybody else has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexa-vega/i-have-three-friendships-that-have-lasted-a-long-time-but-everybody/) [Alexa Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexa-vega/) > [There comes a time in everybody's life when it's no longer enough to point and say he or she should do it, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annegret-kramp-karrenbauer/there-comes-a-time-in-everybody-s-life-when-it-s-no-longer-enough-to/) [Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annegret-kramp-karrenbauer/) > [For a very long time everybody refuses and then almost without a pause almost everybody accepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/for-a-very-long-time-everybody-refuses-and-then-almost-without-a/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More by Jack Vance > [Conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/conversation-supple-sentences-with-first-and-second-meanings-and/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [But, for instance, when I was awfully young, I read all the Oz books. They were an enormous influence on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/but-for-instance-when-i-was-awfully-young-i-read-all-the-oz-books/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [I categorically declare first my absolute innocence, second my lack of criminal intent, and third my effusive apologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-categorically-declare-first-my-absolute-innocence-second-my-lack-of/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Right now I'm so old that if I had a big gush of money, I don't know what I'd do with it. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/right-now-i-m-so-old-that-if-i-had-a-big-gush-of-money-i-don-t-know/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [This is no science, this is art, where equations fall away to elements like resolving chords, and where always prevails a symmetry either explicit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/this-is-no-science-this-is-art-where-equations-fall-away-to-elements/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“I will be glad to go. There is no poetry here. It is as I have always set forth: joy comes of its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-will-be-glad-to-go-there-is-no-poetry-here-it-is-as-i-have-always/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Jack Vance's Lyonesse books are the greatest fairy tale of the twentieth century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/jack-vance-s-lyonesse-books-are-the-greatest-fairy-tale-of-the/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Good music always defeats bad luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/good-music-always-defeats-bad-luck/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“I am not Cugel the Clever for nothing!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-am-not-cugel-the-clever-for-nothing/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“Twango's hospitality, though largely symbolic, does him credit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/twango-s-hospitality-though-largely-symbolic-does-him-credit/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Nothing is more conspicuous than a farting princess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/nothing-is-more-conspicuous-than-a-farting-princess/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“The dead man's companions at the counter started to their feet, but halted as Voynod with great aplomb turned to face them. "Take care,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/the-dead-man-s-companions-at-the-counter-started-to-their-feet-but/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [The story was such that I couldn't make a graceful ending and then make a graceful new beginning. I could have, but I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/the-story-was-such-that-i-couldn-t-make-a-graceful-ending-and-then/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Vance has a genius in evoking the beauty of strangeness, the strangeness of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/vance-has-a-genius-in-evoking-the-beauty-of-strangeness-the/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [This flattery has been rather slow in coming. I think all of sudden late in life now I'm getting some credit for what I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/this-flattery-has-been-rather-slow-in-coming-i-think-all-of-sudden/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) [Explore all 120 Jack Vance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) ## More Carpenter quotes > [An axe at home saves hiring a carpenter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/an-axe-at-home-saves-hiring-a-carpenter/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Even if I wasn't in music, even if my father was a carpenter, some guy in Jamaica would go 'You're just like Bob. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/even-if-i-wasn-t-in-music-even-if-my-father-was-a-carpenter-some-guy/) [Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/) > [Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters-like-ares-comes-the-bridegroom/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [As regards the quietude of the sage, he is not quiet because quietness is said to be good. He is quiet because the multitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/as-regards-the-quietude-of-the-sage-he-is-not-quiet-because-quietness/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/he-came-not-as-a-flash-of-light-or-as-an-unapproachable-conqueror-but/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [There's a devil inside me which cries, "You're not the son of the Carpenter, you're the son of King David! You are not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/there-s-a-devil-inside-me-which-cries-you-re-not-the-son-of-the/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [As I've gotten old I've really listened to a wide spectrum of music, whether it's The Carpenters, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z or Lauryn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooklyn-sudano/as-i-ve-gotten-old-i-ve-really-listened-to-a-wide-spectrum-of-music/) [Brooklyn Sudano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooklyn-sudano/) > [This, more than anything else, is what I have never understood about your people. You can roll dice, and understand that the whole game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/this-more-than-anything-else-is-what-i-have-never-understood-about/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [It's the ones that deal with the inner fear, the unknown realms and the mysticisms that are scary. You had that in the Carpenter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/it-s-the-ones-that-deal-with-the-inner-fear-the-unknown-realms-and/) [Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/) > [Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/read-read-read-read-everything-trash-classics-good-and-bad-and-see/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“The Carpenter Shop”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-carpenter-shop/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I'd rather spend half an hour in the company of a top carpenter, than three hours in the company of an average brain surgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-d-rather-spend-half-an-hour-in-the-company-of-a-top-carpenter-than/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [You may abuse a tragedy, though you cannot write one. You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-may-abuse-a-tragedy-though-you-cannot-write-one-you-may-scold-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [But suicides have a special language. Like carpenters they want to know which tools. They never ask why build. Twice I have so simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/but-suicides-have-a-special-language-like-carpenters-they-want-to/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [An ancient gnarled tree: Too fibrous for a logger's saw, Too twisted to fit a carpenter's square, Outlasts the whole forest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ming-dao-deng/an-ancient-gnarled-tree-too-fibrous-for-a-logger-s-saw-too-twisted-to/) [Ming-Dao Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ming-dao-deng/) [Browse all 249 Carpenter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carpenter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Vance" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybody-watches-what-you-do/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Carpenter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybody-watches-what-you-do/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/jack-vance-3851_carpenter_i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybo_1967627.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was a carpenter for a time and everybody watches what you do.” — Jack Vance", "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": "Jack Vance", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was a carpenter for a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybody-watches-what-you-do/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-was-a-carpenter-for-a-time-and-everybody-watches-what-you-do/#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 } } ] } ```