More from Alan Perlis
A good programming language is a conceptual universe for thinking about programming.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Optimization hinders evolution.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis If a listener nods his head when you’re explaining your program, wake him up.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis That it is meant to be discarded: that the whole point is to always see it as a soap bubble?
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Any noun can be verbed.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn’t.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis We are on the verge: Today our program proved Fermat’s next-to-last theorem.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Often it is the means that justify the ends: goals advance technique and technique survives even when goal structures crumble.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis A language that doesn’t affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis Once you understand how to write a program get someone else to write it.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis We toast the Lisp programmer who pens his thoughts within nests of parentheses.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis
Original quotes
From our community writers
Even with broken wings, she dares to fly. And even with a broken heart, she dares to love.
Divya khandalDivya khandal And I refuse to apologize until the very end for the way that I feel – my feelings are valid too.
Carmen AmadosCarmen Amados Contemplate your own mortality daily, then see how much we must change.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin Poetry is the voice of the soul and the inspiration of the heart.
Teresa PeresTeresa Peres We parted sadly, like children in the street on a pleasant june afternoon.
Iestyn TudorIestyn Tudor And what shall I call you? Yours. In this life, the ones before, and all others thereafter.
Alexandra MichelleAlexandra Michelle If I could go back to a time I’d be with you. And I’d thank you again for almost being the healing to my heart.
Aimee C. HoveyAimee C. Hovey I was a living breathing nightmare and he was my favorite dream catcher.
Juwairiyyah OlgarJuwairiyyah Olgar
Meet the writers
More on against
I consider that 9/11 was the day when war was started against my own work and against myself.
Adam MichnikAdam Michnik Every writer I had ever known wrote his best work when he had his back up against the wall and thought he would never write another word.
Adam LangerAdam Langer Like a pet fish unaware of the fishbowl it lives in, each of us inherently discriminates against young people without knowing it.
Adam FletcherAdam Fletcher I’ve known Kyle O’Reilly since 2009. Me and him actually met each other when we had our very first match against each other for Gabe Sapolsyky’s DragonGate USA show.
Adam ColeAdam Cole This party wants to end multiculturalism and discriminate against anyone different.
Adam BandtAdam Bandt Stand up and fight against corrupt rule; take power and use it on God’s behalf. It is useless to think you change things by preaching alone.
Abul A'la MaududiAbul A'la Maududi That’s not saying that people shouldn’t keep trying to rebel against the facts of existence.
Jim MorrisonJim Morrison I am still so surprised! That is why I am against it. We must learn to be surprised.
Abraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua Heschel