Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. -- Alfred North Whitehead (Introduction to Mathematics)

Sometimes a man with too broad a perspective reveals himself as having no real perspective at all. A man who tries too hard to see every side may be a man who is trying to avoid choosing any side. A man who tries too hard to seek a deeper truth may be trying to hide from the truth he already knows. That is not a sign of intellectual sophistication and "great thinking". It is a demonstration of moral degeneracy and cowardice. -- Steven Den Beste

Well, if you talk about programming to a group of programmers who use the same language, they can become almost evangelistic about the language. They form a tight-knit community, hold to certain beliefs, and follow certain rules in their programming. It’s like a church with a programming language for a Bible. -- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).

Attitude is no substitute for competence. -- Eric S. Raymond, How to become a hacker

Seize any opportunity, or anything that looks like opportunity. They are rare, much rarer than you think... -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, "The Black Swan".

La haine est une liqueur précieuse, un poison plus cher que celui des Borgia, - car il est fait avec notre sang, notre santé, notre sommeil, et les deux tiers de notre amour! Il faut en être avare! -- Charles Baudelaire, Conseils aux jeunes littérateurs.

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. –Plato

The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. ~Mark Caine

Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions. –Dalai Lama

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. –Teddy Roosevelt