Big Ideas Little Pictures

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Finishing lines

Finishing Lines, Stevie Smith quote illustration: a cyclist sits on their bike about to set off on a long journey - the bike is heavily loaded with panniers at the front and the back. The thought bubble above their head shows them visualising the finish line of their journey as their motivation to get going. As Stevie Smith suggests: "The most important role of a finishing line is to get you over the start line."

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“Just remember that finishing lines are good, but their most important role is to get you over the start line in the first place.”

This little piece of wisdom is from Stevie Smith (not the poet). Stevie embarked on a human-powered journey around the world—Expedition 360 —and reached Hawaii under pedal power*. I learned about him from a little chapter in One Man and His Bike by Mike Carter. As soon as I finished the chapter where he speaks with Stevie I immediately reread it.

Mike also shared this deeper and more poetic version of the same insight:

“Happiness is the acceptance of the journey as it is now, not the promise of the other shore”

*Stevie’s companion Jason Lewis completed the circumnavigation of the world 13 years after they began.

This quote, modified to a lovely two-page spread, features with a number of others in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures.

You can also listen to us discuss this sketch with the brilliant Brendan Leonard in the Sketchplanations podcast episode on Finishing lines

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Published 11 Jul 2020

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Keep exploring

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The goal-gradient effect

What is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy Milkman

The fresh start effect

The Doppler effect is the change in frequency of a wave as its source moves relative to the observer. The same effect that causes a siren's pitch to change as it drives past is also used to estimate blood flow with ultrasound, measure the speed of a passing car, and even determine the motion of the stars. Doppler shift-based satellite navigation was also the first operational use of a system that eventually led to GPS. When a siren or similar sounds approach, I try to imagine the crunching of the sound waves—the vehicle seemingly chasing after its own sound—and the stretching out of the waves as it heads past and into the distance. At least it makes it less painful on the ears. Here's an excerpt from my Dad's book, Einstein's Mirror, in a fascinating chapter discussing the speed of light: "In 1845 in Utrecht, a troupe of trumpeters played their instruments while being transported by a train. Another group of musicians arrayed alongside the railway track were paid to listen carefully as the train and the trumpeters went by. This seemingly bizarre experiment was the invention of the Austrian physicist Johann Christian Doppler. Most readers will have noticed the drop in pitch of a whistle as a train goes by, or of a siren as an ambulance or police car passes. It was precisely this same change in pitch with motion that Doppler was investigating with his entertaining train and trumpet experiment." A polished version of this sketch appears in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures…The Doppler effect is the change in frequency of a wave as its source moves relative to the observer. The same effect that causes a siren's pitch to change as it drives past is also used to estimate blood flow with ultrasound, measure the speed of a passing car, and even determine the motion of the stars. Doppler shift-based satellite navigation was also the first operational use of a system that eventually led to GPS. When a siren or similar sounds approach, I try to imagine the crunching of the sound waves—the vehicle seemingly chasing after its own sound—and the stretching out of the waves as it heads past and into the distance. At least it makes it less painful on the ears. Here's an excerpt from my Dad's book, Einstein's Mirror, in a fascinating chapter discussing the speed of light: "In 1845 in Utrecht, a troupe of trumpeters played their instruments while being transported by a train. Another group of musicians arrayed alongside the railway track were paid to listen carefully as the train and the trumpeters went by. This seemingly bizarre experiment was the invention of the Austrian physicist Johann Christian Doppler. Most readers will have noticed the drop in pitch of a whistle as a train goes by, or of a siren as an ambulance or police car passes. It was precisely this same change in pitch with motion that Doppler was investigating with his entertaining train and trumpet experiment." A polished version of this sketch appears in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

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