To do something well you have to love it. So to the extent you can preserve hacking as something you love, you're likely to do it well. Try to keep the sense of wonder you had about programming at age 14. If you're worried that your current job is rotting your brain, it probably is. -- Paul Graham.

The general principle for complexity design is this: Think locally, act locally. -- Richard P. Gabriel & Ron Goldman, Mob Software: The Erotic Life of Code

The minute you put the blame on someone else you’ve switch things from being a problem you can control to a problem outside of your control. -- engtech (internetducttape.com)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic. -- Arthur C. Clarke

Workers of the world, the chains that bind you are not held in place by a ruling class, a "superior" race, by society, the state, or a leader. They are held in place by none other than yourself. Those who seek to exploit are not themselves free, for they place no value in freedom. Who is it that really employs you and commands you to pick up your daily load? And who is it that you allow to pass judgment on the adequacy of your toil? Who have you empowered to dangle the carrot before you and threaten with disapproval? Who, when you wake each morning, sends you off to what you call your work? Is there an "I want to" behind all your "I have to," or have you been so long forgotten to yourself that "I want" exists only as an idea in your head? If you have disconnected from your soul's desire and are drowning in an ocean of "have to," then rise up and overthrow your master. Begin the journey toward emancipation. Work only in such a way that you are truly self-employed. -- Tim Gallwey, The inner game of work

State is the root of all evil. In particular functions with side effects should be avoided. -- OO Sucks (bluetail.com)

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

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart. – Ancient Indian Proverb

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