A person won't become proficient at something until he or she has done it many times. In other words., if you want someone to be really good at building a software system, he or she will have to have built 10 or more systems of that type. -- Philip Greenspun

The function of good software is to make the complex appear to be simple. -- Grady Booch

We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil. -- Donald Knuth

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. -- Ken Olson, President, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

But what is it good for? -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, commenting on the microchip, 1968

Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot. -- Eric S. Raymond

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all. ~Dale Carnegie

You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame. –Erica Jong

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky