Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. -- Ancient Eastern adage

A CS professor once explained recursion as follows: A child couldn't sleep, so her mother told her a story about a little frog, who couldn't sleep, so the frog's mother told her a story about a little bear, who couldn't sleep, so the bear's mother told her a story about a little weasel... who fell asleep. ...and the little bear fell asleep; ...and the little frog fell asleep; ...and the child fell asleep. -- everything2.com

The problem is that small examples fail to convince, and large examples are too big to follow. -- Steve Yegge.

Abstraction is a form of data compression: absolutely necessary, because human short-term memory is so small, but the critically important aspect of abstraction is the algorithm that gets you from the name back to the "uncompressed" details. -- Bruce Wilder (blog post comment)

[How friendly will this machine be?] Well, I don’t think it’s a matter of friendliness, because ultimately if the program is going to accomplish anything of value, it will probably be relatively complex. -- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).

640K ought to be enough for anybody. -- Bill Gates, 1981

A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them. ~Henry Kravis

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. ~Audre Lorde

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~Walt Disney

It is never too late to be what you might have been. –George Eliot