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

A person won't retain proficiency at a task unless he or she has at one time learned to perform that task very rapidly. Learning research demonstrates that the skills of people who become accurate but not fast deteriorate much sooner than the skills of people who become both accurate and fast. -- Philip Greenspun

Lisp is a programmable programming language. -- John Foderaro

In terms of energy, it's better to make a wrong choice than none at all. -- George Leonard, Mastery.

Lisp programmers know the value of everything but the cost of nothing. -- Alan J. Perlis

Acknowledging the negative doesn't mean sniveling [whining, complaining]; it means facing the truth and then moving on. -- George Leonard, Mastery.

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. –John Lennon

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. ~Audre Lorde

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. –Latin Proverb

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