Since programmers create programs out of nothing, imagination is our only limitation. Thus, in the world of programming, the hero is the one who has great vision. Paul Graham is one of our contemporary heroes. He has the ability to embrace the vision, and to express it plainly. His works are my favorites, especially the ones describing language design. He explains secrets of programming, languages, and human nature that can only be learned from the hacker experience. This book shows you his great vision, and tells you the truth about the nature of hacking. -- Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto, creator of Ruby

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.

Mastering isn’t a survival instinct; it’s an urge to excel. Mastering is one of the experiences that delineates us from animals. It is striving to be more tomorrow than we are today; to perfectly pitch the ball over home plate; to craft the perfect sentence in an article; to open the oven and feel the warm, richly-scented cloud telling you dinner is going to be absolutely extraordinary. We humans crave perfection, to be masters of our domain, to distinguish ourselves by sheer skill and prowess. -- Joesgoals.com

Il y a très loin de la velléité à la volnt, de la volonté à la résolution, de la résolution au choix des moyens, du choix ds moyens à lapplication. -- Jean-François Paul de Gondi de Retz

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (attributed)

An expert is, according to my working definition "someone who doesn't need to look up answers to easy questions". -- Eric Lippert.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost

Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. ~George Bernard Shaw

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey