"One of the rules that the ancients taught about tools was that no one but their owner should touch them. A tool had a spirit and should only be handled by its owner. For centuries, craftspeople valued their tools; building elaborate toolboxes as virtual shrines to their precious tools. Then with industrialization and the conversion to factories; owners pushed for greater efficiency and mass production. They eliminated personal tools and required workers to check out implements from a central tool crib and return them after use. Pride in tools and personal standards of craft were destroyed. Some people scoff at these attitudes. To them, the belief that a tool has spirit is plain superstitious. "An object is an object," they say "nothing more and nothing less". But that attitude overlooks the opportunity to use craft as a means of self-realization. A spirit may be no more in a tool than in a temple, but the fact remains that for that spirit creates a tremendous change in the artisan. By respecting the spirit in the tool, the artisan really focuses on his or her own perception and skill. The true spirit in the tool is nothing less than the craftsman's pursuit of perfection."
I ran across this on this website for the New England School of Metalworking website. It's definitely worth taking a look at.
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