The best way to learn to live with our limitations is to know them. --E. W. Dijkstra, The humble programmer
One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that–lacking zero–they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs. -- Robert Firth
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (attributed)
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. -- Hans Hofmann
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
Philosophy: the finding of bad reasons for what one believes by instinct. -- Brave New World (paraphrased)
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. ~Thomas A. Edison
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. –Alice Walker
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. ~Jim Ryun
I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. –Benjamin Franklin