Every reader should ask himself periodically “Toward what end, toward what end?”—but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.

Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves.

It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than to have 10 functions operate on 10 data structures.

I think it is inevitable that people program poorly. Training will not substantially help matters. We have to learn to live with it.

Is it possible that software is not like anything else, that it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?

Any noun can be verbed.

Computer Science is embarrassed by the computer.