>>Someone once told me that if someone just keeps his nose to the grindstone he will eventually be missing his nose.
>>
>>That's pithy and oversimplified, but there's some truth there.
>>
>>So, does this mean that you believe that there is no point in working your butt off because it will never pay off? I am sure that there are a lot of people sitting on their butts collecting welfare that agree with you.
>>
>>I must have been stupid to work my butt off tending bar at night to work my way through school because, clearly, all that hard work did not pay off.
>
>Well, you still have your nose, so you must have looked away from the grindstone now and then.
>The point of the aphorism is that if you're continually grinding away and not getting anywhere, it's time to stop and look around.

I'm going to take a ton of heat on this - but that pretty much describes the (valid) criticism of those who stuck with VFP far too long (however well-intentioned) and didn't see the writing on the wall regarding VFP vs other technologies.