"55: LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing."

Alan Perlis Science See all quotes by Alan Perlis →

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“64: Often it is means that justify ends: Goals advance technique and technique survives even when goal structures crumble.”

“8: A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant.”

“39: A picture is worth 10K words - but only those to describe the picture. Hardly any sets of 10K words can be adequately described with pictures.”

“16: Every program has two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.”

“Both knowledge and wisdom extend man's reach. Knowledge led to computers, wisdom to chopsticks.”

“57: It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It is not true that on an exchange of commodities we give value for value. On the contrary, each of the two contracting parties in every case, gives a less for a greater value. … If we really exchange…"

— Étienne Bonnot de Condillac

Philosophy1714–1780

#truth

"Mysteries, to most scientists, are meta-stable states of non-understanding, often like darkness before dawn. Like the morning dew, they evaporate away by the light of new knowledge, causing an euphori…"

— Varadaraja V. Raman

Education1932

#knowledge

"I only said there's no difference between what the two do. I want everybody to know that."

— Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)

Journalism1949

#knowledge

"You have to find out for yourself. Take the leap. Go as far as you can. Try staying out of touch. Become a stranger in a strange land. Acquire humility. Learn the language. Listen to what people are s…"

— Paul Theroux

Literature1941

#knowledge