"All the revision in the world will not save a bad first draft: for the architecture of the thing comes, or fails to come, in the first conception, and revision only affects the detail and ornament, alas!"

This quote by T. E. Lawrence highlights the importance of a strong initial principle in any creative undertaking. The act of revising and refining an initial draft can only do so much if the structure of the concept is weak. Lawrence recommends that the "architecture" of a piece, or its general structure and principle, is what truly determines its success or failure. No amount of modification can fix an inadequately conceived idea. Rather, modification must be used to enhance and add detail to a strong structure. This quote functions as a pointer to focus on the preliminary conception of a project and to not rely exclusively on revision to wait.