A society that puts equality -- in the sense of equality of outcome --
ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use
of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force,
introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use
it to promote their own interests.
-- Milton Friedman (Thomas Sowell: A Conflict of Visions, p130)
The general principle for complexity design is this: Think locally, act
locally.
-- Richard P. Gabriel & Ron Goldman, Mob Software: The Erotic Life of Code
In OO, it's the data that is the "important" thing: you define the class
which contains member data, and only incidentally contains code for
manipulating the object. In FP, it's the code that's important: you
define a function which contains code for working with the data, and
only incidentally define what the data is.
-- almkgor, on reddit
Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn't just
teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There's no
company on earth that wouldn't benefit from having people become more
observant.
-- Randy S. Nelson (dean of Pixar University)
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations
which we can perform without thinking about them.
-- Alfred North Whitehead (Introduction to Mathematics)
You must always work not just within but below your means. If you can
handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then
handle five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more
ease, more mastery and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.
-- Pablo Picasso
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great.
-- Mark Twain
Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy
to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.
-- Alan J. Perlis (Epigrams in programmi ng)
Another feature about this guy is his low threshold of boredom. He'll
pick up on a task and work frantically at it, accomplishing wonders in a
short time and then get bored and drop it before its properly finished.
He'll do nothing but strum his guitar and lie around in bed for several
days after. Thats also part of the pattern too; periods of frenetic
activity followed by periods of melancholia, withdrawal and inactivity.
This is a bipolar personality.
-- The bipolar lisp programmer
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]
Quality of the people is better than the quality of the business idea.
Crappy people can screw up the best idea in the world.
-- Hadi Partovi & Ali Partovi (iLike.com), Talk at StartupSchool2007
What Paul does, and does very well, is to take ideas and concepts that
are beautiful in the abstract, and brings them down to a real world
level. That's a rare talent to find in writing these days.
-- Jeff "hemos" Bates, Director, OSDN; Co-evolver, Slashdot
My dream is that people adopt it on its own merits. We're not trying to
bend Ruby on Rails to fit the enterprise, we're encouraging enterprises
to bend to Ruby on Rails. Come if you like it, stay away if you don't.
We're not going head over heels to accommodate the enterprise or to lure
them away from Java. That's how you end up with Java, if you start
bending to special interest groups.
-- David Heinemeier Hansson (Ruby On Rails' creator)
Software is like sex: It’s better when it’s free.
-- Linus Torvalds
The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should therefore be
regarded as a criminal offense.
-- E.W. Dijkstra
A society that puts equality -- in the sense of equality of outcome --
ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use
of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force,
introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use
it to promote their own interests.
-- Milton Friedman (Thomas Sowell: A Conflict of Visions, p130)
Any code of your own that you haven’t looked at for six or more months
might as well have been written by someone else.
-- Eagleson’s Law
A no uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a yes merely
uttered to please or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
To follow the path:
look to the master,
follow the master,
walk with the master,
see through the master,
become the master.
-- Modern zen Poem
The general principle for complexity design is this: Think locally, act
locally.
-- Richard P. Gabriel & Ron Goldman, Mob Software: The Erotic Life of Code
In OO, it's the data that is the "important" thing: you define the class
which contains member data, and only incidentally contains code for
manipulating the object. In FP, it's the code that's important: you
define a function which contains code for working with the data, and
only incidentally define what the data is.
-- almkgor, on reddit
If we wish to count lines of code, we should not regard them as lines
produced but as lines spent.
-- Edsger Dijkstra
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
Lisp is a programmable programming language.
-- John Foderaro
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
-- Elie Wiesel
In theory, there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in
practice, there is.
-- Albert Einstein
Linux is only free if your time has no value.
-- Jamie Zawinski
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
-- Alexander Pope
Acknowledging the negative doesn't mean sniveling [whining, complaining]; it
means facing the truth and then moving on.
-- George Leonard, Mastery.
Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn't just
teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There's no
company on earth that wouldn't benefit from having people become more
observant.
-- Randy S. Nelson (dean of Pixar University)
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations
which we can perform without thinking about them.
-- Alfred North Whitehead (Introduction to Mathematics)
You must always work not just within but below your means. If you can
handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then
handle five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more
ease, more mastery and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.
-- Pablo Picasso
You can have premature generalization as well as premature optimization.
-- Bjarne Stroustrup
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great.
-- Mark Twain
I guess, when you're drunk, every woman looks beautiful and every
language looks (like) a Lisp :)
-- Lament, #scheme@freenode.net
Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy
to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.
-- Alan J. Perlis (Epigrams in programmi ng)
Another feature about this guy is his low threshold of boredom. He'll
pick up on a task and work frantically at it, accomplishing wonders in a
short time and then get bored and drop it before its properly finished.
He'll do nothing but strum his guitar and lie around in bed for several
days after. Thats also part of the pattern too; periods of frenetic
activity followed by periods of melancholia, withdrawal and inactivity.
This is a bipolar personality.
-- The bipolar lisp programmer
I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers.
-- Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948
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]
Quality of the people is better than the quality of the business idea.
Crappy people can screw up the best idea in the world.
-- Hadi Partovi & Ali Partovi (iLike.com), Talk at StartupSchool2007
Philosophy: the finding of bad reasons for what one believes by
instinct.
-- Brave New World (paraphrased)
State is the root of all evil. In particular functions with side effects
should be avoided.
-- OO Sucks (bluetail.com)
What Paul does, and does very well, is to take ideas and concepts that
are beautiful in the abstract, and brings them down to a real world
level. That's a rare talent to find in writing these days.
-- Jeff "hemos" Bates, Director, OSDN; Co-evolver, Slashdot
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a
while, you could miss it.
-- Ferris Bueller
There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.
-- Ken Olson, President, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977
What is truth?
-- Pontius Pilate
The good thing about reinventing the wheel is that you get a round one.
-- Douglas Crockford (Author of JSON and JsLint)
My dream is that people adopt it on its own merits. We're not trying to
bend Ruby on Rails to fit the enterprise, we're encouraging enterprises
to bend to Ruby on Rails. Come if you like it, stay away if you don't.
We're not going head over heels to accommodate the enterprise or to lure
them away from Java. That's how you end up with Java, if you start
bending to special interest groups.
-- David Heinemeier Hansson (Ruby On Rails' creator)
Everybody makes their own fun. If you don't make it yourself, it ain't
fun -- it's entertainment.
-- David Mamet (as relayed by Joss Whedon)
Linux is only free if your time has no value.
-- Jamie Zawinski
The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and
Hubris.
-- Larry Wall (Programming Perl)
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only
off by a bit.
-- Anonymous