I wasn't being critical of your post. The part of my statement you quoted led me to believe you saw no purpose in "lesser" lenses. Years ago, I printed for others, both in a commercial lab and on my own. For those prints I used Schneiders, Rodenstocks, and Nikon enlarging lenses, as those delivered the results the client was paying for. I still use those lenses for my personal work.
As for Ctein, I had the book when it was available printed, and have the pdf. I respect much of what he writes, and even think he's worth listening to when I disagree with him.
My point, once again, is that I see too many questions about "what's the best", here and elsewhere. I still maintain that the biggest impediment we face in making expressive images isn't the equipment. It's in ourselves. We need to improve with what we have available, rather than wait to own state of the art. Knowing that there's something better often has a paralyzing effect on people. Doing something with less is far better than doing nothing at all.