The Nature of Quality

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig asserts that quality is undefinable, a position he later recants in Lila. Pirsig is an icon but here's my stab at defining a thing of quality.

1. A thing of quality must have purpose

2. A thing of quality must meet its purpose

3. A thing of quality must be reliable (reduce or eliminate random failure), and

4. A thing of quality must sustain its sense of purpose, effectiveness and reliability.