The Marketplace Of Ideas Should Be Brutal

I think this wisdom applies to everything in life, beyond software development. You really don't know if your idea is superior until honest feedback is received and it is compared to competing ideas. I thought this was summarized nicely as:

"Ideas are meant to be attacked, torn apart, and put back together again. You may well want to shield your idea from the harsh sunlight at first, but by the time it’s ready to meet the world, it should also be ready for rain or shine. Bad ideas are supposed to wither under the stress of criticism."

-- Via David's post at 37Signals