Einstein argued that there must be simplified explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. -- Frederick P. Brooks, No Sliver Bullet.

We now come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction: we forget about what the symbols stand for. ...[The mathematician] need not be idle; there are many operations which he may carry out with these symbols, without ever having to look at the things they stand for. -- Hermann Weyl, The Mathematical Way of Thinking

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough. -- Mario Andretti

A CS professor once explained recursion as follows: A child couldn't sleep, so her mother told her a story about a little frog, who couldn't sleep, so the frog's mother told her a story about a little bear, who couldn't sleep, so the bear's mother told her a story about a little weasel... who fell asleep. ...and the little bear fell asleep; ...and the little frog fell asleep; ...and the child fell asleep. -- everything2.com

That is the inevitable human response. We’re reluctant to believe that great discoveries are in the air. We want to believe that great discoveries are in our heads—and to each party in the multiple the presence of the other party is invariably cause for suspicion. -- Malcolm Gladwell, Who says big ideas are rare?

Everybody makes their own fun. If you don't make it yourself, it ain't fun -- it's entertainment. -- David Mamet (as relayed by Joss Whedon)

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings. –Ann Landers

Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument. ~Anonymous

Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them. ~Anonymous

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. ~Francis Chan