“The result is – document destruction – we’re really not going to be able to prove beyond a truth the negatives and some of the positive conclusions that we’re going to come to.”

They don’t like the idea of having different points of view.

They don’t like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle.

Quite a few people have to believe something is normal before it becomes normal – a sort of ‘voting’ situation.

And to the extent that we do not violate any known laws of the universe, we can probably make it work the way that we want to.

The protean nature of the computer is such that it can act like a machine or like a language to be shaped and exploited.

If the pros at Sun had had a chance to fix Java, the world would be a much more pleasant place.

In computers, every ‘new explosion’ was set off by a software product that allowed users to program differently.

Much of the debugging has to be done by others.

Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing since MS-DOS.

[Computing] is just a fabulous place for that, because it’s a place where you don’t have to be a Ph.D. or anything else. It’s a place where you can still be an artisan.

The soft nerds are the ones who get violently ill whenever anybody mentions an integral sign.

I fear – as far as I can tell – that most undergraduate degrees in computer science these days are basically Java vocational training.

Most creativity is a transition from one context into another where things are more surprising.

When I first prepared this particular talk…

Art also has this element. Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in – the one that we think is reality.

I had the fortune or misfortune to learn how to read fluently starting at the age of three.

It would be great to just be able to ignore everything and pitch to a spot, to suppress the intellect and let the intuition take over.

By doing this we give them an opportunity to elevate their personal situations, which eventually decreases our need to take care of them and empowers them to be able to exercise compassion toward others.

Pooh is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded.

You’ve got to be success minded. You’ve got to feel that things are coming your way when you’re out selling; otherwise, you won’t be able to sell anything.

I am so used to having a comfortable life. What will it be like when I am no longer able to just buy anything I want?

The thing that is probably most important is having a brain, and to be able to figure things out and learn things very rapidly.

It’s quite difficult for me not to be able to return to my country, but in my country justice has been murdered.

I feel really passionately about safe, comfortable roads, crosswalks, and sidewalks. Everyone of all economic backgrounds should be able to get to school or the grocery store safely and efficiently so they can live better lives.