For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. -- Aristotle.

Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. -- Ancient Eastern adage

Fools! Don't they know that tears are a woman's most effective weapon? -- Catwoman (The Batman TV Series, episode 83)

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

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. -- Randy Pausch

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

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. ~Dale Carnegie

I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. –Benjamin Franklin

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

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. –Grandma Moses