Often the great scientists, by turning the problem around a bit, changed a defect to an asset. For example, many scientists when they found they couldn't do a problem finally began to study why not. They then turned it around the other way and said, "But of course, this is what it is" and got an important result.

If you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work.

He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important.

The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.

Perhaps the central problem we face in all of computer science is how we are to get to the situation where we build on top of the work of others rather than redoing so much of it in a trivially different way.

In mathematics we do not appeal to authority, but rather you are responsible for what you believe.

One of the characteristics of successful scientists is having courage.