If there is one 'scientific' discovery I am proud of, it is the discovery of the habit of writing without publication in mind.

I don't need to waste my time with a computer just because I am a computer scientist.

Don't blame me for the fact that competent programming, as I view it as an intellectual possibility, will be too difficult for the average programmer, you must not fall into the trap of rejecting a surgical technique because it is beyond the capabilities of the barber in his shop around the corner.

APL is a mistake, carried through to perfection.

Progress is possible only if we train ourselves to think about programs without thinking of them as pieces of executable code.

Why has elegance found so little following? That is the reality of it. Elegance has the disadvantage, if that's what it is, that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it.

About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.