Computer programming is an art, because it applies accumulated knowledge to the world, because it requires skill and ingenuity, and especially because it produces objects of beauty. A programmer who subconsciously views himself as an artist will enjoy what he does and will do it better.

The best theory is inspired by practice.

Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.

My first program taught me a lot about the errors that I was going to be making in the future, and also about how to find errors. That's sort of the story of my life, making errors and trying to recover from them. I try to get things correct. I probably obsess about not making too many mistakes.

The enjoyment of one's tools is an essential ingredient of successful work.

The best practice is inspired by theory.

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.