Quotes
Here a collection of my favorite quotes:
Programming
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
Programming can be fun, so can cryptography; however they should not be combined.
Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
Real computer scientists despise the idea of actual hardware. Hardware has limitations, software doesn't.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
It's OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn't need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.
Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming: feedback is the treatment.
Inside every large program, there is a small program trying to get out.
Prolific programmers contribute to certain disaster.
The best way to get a project done faster is to start sooner.
When someone says, "I want a programming language in which I need only say what I want done," give him a lollipop.
Martial Arts
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it's price.
Never fight an inanimate object.
True refinement seeks simplicity.
That which does not kill us, must have missed us.
You might as well stand and fight because if you run, you will only die tired.
One man that has a mind and knows it, can always beat ten men who haven't and don't.
The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.
I'm glad I didn't have to fight in any war. I'm glad I didn't have to pick up a gun. I'm glad I didn't get killed or kill somebody. I hope my kids enjoy the same lack of manhood.
Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose.
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
Other
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so.
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
Primary goal in life: Occasion to use the phrase: "Let me through - I'm a Computer Scientist!"
Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong
If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.
To err is human, to blame the next guy even more so.
If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day.
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional
No one can have a higher opinion of him than I have, and I think he's a dirty little beast.
...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.
Perhaps one day this too will be pleasant to remember.
This life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been an actual life, you would have received further instructions as to what to do and where to go.
Household tasks are easier and quicker when they are done by somebody else.
Vacant minds must have their uses, yet it seems a pity to waste first-class bodies on them.
When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
After all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done.
If your parents never had children, chances are you won't, either.
We're not lost. We're locationally challenged.
Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working.
If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect.
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space.
A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with.
You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.
Of those who say nothing, few are silent.
My little contribution to aphorisms
If you understand the problem then there is no problem.
I am indispensible - but everyone just ignores it.
Do not write what you want to say, write what your reader understands.
Everyone wants to be rich one day. I don't! I want to be rich every day!
According to the ads I have found my perfect partner for life: it is a chocolate bar with a strawberry-creme filling.
Thinking is fun ... sometimes.
Truth is like a big stone. If you stumble upon it unprepared, it hurts.
A wise man is, who can resist the temptation of the unspoken word.
It is the simple things in life that are important - a big car, a big house, lots of money, ...
Always expect the worst - most of the time you won't be disappointed.
Always enjoy success - the next disaster is just around the corner.
If you think something is simple then it is you.
"Democracy" is composed of two words. "Demos", which is greek for people and "crazy", which doesn't need any explanation.
Democracy is excellence in mediocrity.
Statistics says that married men life longer - poor bastards...
If someone is absolutely sure about something then he doesn't know what he is talking about.
Testing of software is a waste of time. Everybody knows that computers do not make mistakes.
There is a lot to say for religon...I just can't remember what.
People that trust in God shouldn't be trusted.
If you are not smart, you can be at least efficient.
What really scares me is that I am not scared about the things I should be scared about.
Build tools and the sky is the limit.
The purpose of life? Having as much fun as possible - but this turns out to be damn hard work.
Be skeptical!