While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software to the end user. -- [A comment on a blog]

In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? -- David (Psalm 56:4)

Philosophy: the finding of bad reasons for what one believes by instinct. -- Brave New World (paraphrased)

A guideline in the process of stepwise refinement should be the principle to decompose decisions as much as possible, to untangle aspects which are only seemingly interdependent, and to defer those decisions which concern details of representation as long as possible. -- Niklaus Wirth

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. -- Cited by Randy Pausch

Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~Mark Twain

Life isn't about getting and having, it's about giving and being. –Kevin Kruse

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. –Helen Keller

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. ~Truman Capote