The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.

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.

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

The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise.

In their capacity as a tool, computers will be but a ripple on the surface of our culture. In their capacity as intellectual challenge, they are without precedent in the cultural history of mankind.

Brainpower is by far our scarcest resource.

The prisoner falls in love with his chains.