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

I think the root of your mistake is saying that macros don't scale to larger groups. The real truth is that macros don't scale to stupider groups. -- Paul Graham, on the Lightweight Languages mailing list.

As builders and creators finding the perfect solution should not be our main goal. We should find the perfect problem. -- Isaac (blog comment)

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. -- Benjamin Franklin

Simple things should be simple. Complex things should be possible. -- Alan Kay

Write it properly first. It's easier to make a correct program fast, than to make a fast program correct. -- http://www.cpax.org.uk/prg/

It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. –Mae Jemison

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. ~Steve Jobs

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place. ~Guy Kawasaki

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