Hence my urgent advice to all of you to reject the morals of the bestseller society and to find, to start with, your reward in your own fun. This is quite feasible, for the challenge of simplification is so fascinating that, if we do our job properly, we shall have the greatest fun in the world. -- E. W. Dijkstra, On the nature of computing science.

It(mastering)’s knowing what you are doing. -- Joesgoals.com

Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones. -- Alan J. Perlis (Epigrams in programming)

Some people suggest that machines would be friendlier if input could be in a natural language. But natural language is probably the worst kind of input because it can be quite ambiguous. The process of retrieving information from the computer would be so time-consuming that you would be better off spending that time getting the information directly from an expert. -- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).

Simplicity takes effort-- genius, even. -- Paul Graham

A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing. -- Alan Perlis

If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents- start charging for it. ~Kim Garst

An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. –Dalai Lama

In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it. ~Jane Smiley