This challenge, viz. the confrontation with the programming task, is so unique that this novel experience can teach us a lot about ourselves. It should deepen our understanding of the processes of design and creation, it should give us better control over the task of organizing our thoughts. If it did not do so, to my taste we should no deserve the computer at all! It has allready taught us a few lessons, and the one I have chosen to stress in this talk is the following. We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremenduous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsec limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers. -- E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer

Good programmers use their brains, but good guidelines save us having to think out every case. -- Francis Glassborow

We fail to realize that mastery is not about perfection. It's about a process, a journey. The master is the one who stays on the path day after day, year after year. The master is the one who is willing to try, and fail, and try again, for as long as he or she lives. -- George Leonard, Mastery.

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Winston Churchill

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. -- Thomas Edison

La tactique, c'est ce que vous faites quand il y a quelque chose à faire; la stratégie, c'est ce que vous faites quand il n'y a rien à faire. -- Xavier Tartacover

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

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

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein

Opportunities don’t happen, you create them. ~Chris Grosser