This was what I wrote in my post-PhD failure write-up:
"It is important to understand, from the outset of the PhD, who your target audience is: it’s you. I remember hearing that, on average, 1.6 people will read your PhD thesis. I’m pretty sure that includes yourself, your spouse, your supervisor, your second supervisor and your examiner (yeah, that’s technically 5 people. If someone says they’ve read your thesis, they’re probably lying -- they read page 9). You have to accept, that no one in the world will want to wade through this document. Ever."
Oh man, that rang true! (I just read the whole post). I did manage to finish mine a few years ago, largely running on fumes and requiring a re-write largely from scratch after the initial examination with a near-nervous-breakdown during each write-up... but other than that I think every point resonated.
"It is important to understand, from the outset of the PhD, who your target audience is: it’s you. I remember hearing that, on average, 1.6 people will read your PhD thesis. I’m pretty sure that includes yourself, your spouse, your supervisor, your second supervisor and your examiner (yeah, that’s technically 5 people. If someone says they’ve read your thesis, they’re probably lying -- they read page 9). You have to accept, that no one in the world will want to wade through this document. Ever."
http://jamie.ideasasylum.com/2008/07/things-i-learnt-during-...