The lesson of the story might appear to be that self-interested and ambitious people in power are often the cause of wastefulness in developing countries. But self-interested and ambitious people are in positions of power, great and small, all over the world. In many places, they are restrained by the law, the press, and democratic opposition. Cameroon's tragedy is that there is nothing to hold self-interest in check. -- Tim Harford

We tend to seek easy, single-factor explanations of success. For most important things, though, success actually requires avoiding many separate causes of failure. -- Jared Diamond

Having large case statements in an object-oriented language is a sure sign your design is flawed. -- [Fixing architecture flaws in Rails' ORM]

Rules of Optimization: Rule 1: Don’t do it. Rule 2 (for experts only): Don’t do it yet. -- M.A. Jackson

The Work Begins Anew, The Hope Rises Again, And The Dream Lives On. -- Ted Kennedy

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. -- Thomas Jefferson

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale

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

If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on. –Sheryl Sandberg

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. –Henry Ford