You can’t get to version 500 if you don’t start with a version 1. -- BetterExplained.com

The only problems we can really solve in a satisfactory manner are those that finally admit a nicely factored solution. -- E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer

Since programmers create programs out of nothing, imagination is our only limitation. Thus, in the world of programming, the hero is the one who has great vision. Paul Graham is one of our contemporary heroes. He has the ability to embrace the vision, and to express it plainly. His works are my favorites, especially the ones describing language design. He explains secrets of programming, languages, and human nature that can only be learned from the hacker experience. This book shows you his great vision, and tells you the truth about the nature of hacking. -- Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto, creator of Ruby

Lisp has jokingly been called "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer". I think that description is a great compliment because it transmits the full flavor of liberation: it has assisted a number of our most gifted fellow humans in thinking previously impossible thoughts. -- Edsger Dijkstra, CACM, 15:10

J'ai toujours préféré la folie des passions à la sagesse de l'indifférence. -- Anatole France

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (attributed)

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.~ Oscar Wilde

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~Walt Disney

We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret. ~Earl Nightingale

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington