The sun comes up just about as often as it goes down, in the long run, but this doesn't make its motion random.

The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience much like composing poetry or music.

The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language.

We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.

In fact what I would like to see is thousands of computer scientists let loose to do whatever they want. That's what really advances the field.

The hardest thing is to go to sleep at night, when there are so many urgent things needing to be done. A huge gap exists between what we know is possible with today's machines and what we have so far been able to finish.

Programming is legitimate and necessary academic endeavour.