I think it is wise, and only honest, to warn you that my goal is immodest. It is not my purpose to "transfer knowledge" to you that, subsequently, you can forget again. My purpose is no less than to effectuate in each of you a noticeable, irreversable change. I want you to gain, for the rest of your lives, the insight that beautiful proofs are not "found" by trial anf error but are the result of a consciously applied design discipline. I want you to raise your quality standards. I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself "Dijkstra would not have liked this", well, that would be enough immortality for me. -- E. W. Dijkstra
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. -- Colin Powell
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. -- Cited by Randy Pausch
It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission. -- Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Hopper
Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter. -- Eric Raymond
All creativity is an extended form of a joke. -- Alan Kay
I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey
If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work. ~Thomas J. Watson
The number one reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbors. ~Napoleon Hill
If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary. ~Jim Rohn