This challenge, viz. the confrontation with the programming task, is so unique that this novel experience can teach us a lot about ourselves. It should deepen our understanding of the processes of design and creation, it should give us better control over the task of organizing our thoughts. If it did not do so, to my taste we should no deserve the computer at all! It has allready taught us a few lessons, and the one I have chosen to stress in this talk is the following. We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremenduous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsec limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers. -- E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer

The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: "I did not have time." -- WestHost weekly newsletter 14 Feb 2003

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. -- Official definition of "duck typing"

You can have premature generalization as well as premature optimization. -- Bjarne Stroustrup

Lisp programmers know the value of everything but the cost of nothing. -- Alan J. Perlis

So the mere constraint of staying in regular contact with us will push you to make things happen, because otherwise you'll be embarrassed to tell us that you haven't done anything new since the last time we talked. -- Paul Graham (a talk at Y Combinator, for startup creators).

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself--the invisible battles inside all of us--that's where it's at. –Jesse Owens

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.~ Oscar Wilde

An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. ~Anonymous