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.

As builders and creators finding the perfect solution should not be our main goal. We should find the perfect problem. -- Isaac (blog comment)

Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight. -- Bill Gates

All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection. -- Butler Lampson

That is one of the most distinctive differences between school and the real world: there is no reward for putting in a good effort. In fact, the whole concept of a "good effort" is a fake idea adults invented to encourage kids. It is not found in nature. -- Paul Graham

Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -- Alan Kay

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. ~Dale Carnegie

Knowledge is being aware of what you can do. Wisdom is knowing when not to do it. ~Anonymous

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it. ~Washington Irving