Researchers solve problems that are solvable, not necessarily ones that are real.

— Adam Barr, The Problem With Software

You do not need to live like this! When did we sign up to be trapped in an endless system of tests and exams which will only lead us on to more soul-destroying work? Who made us slaves to this assessment machine, ants forced into a maze of grades and performance reviews that we’ll stay trapped inside our whole lives? Whoever asked you if you wanted to become a racing rat? We could live for so much more than this

— Luke Tarassenko, The Free Will Exam

Your brain can’t objectively evaluate challenges to identity based beliefs because doing so requires temporarily dismantling the neural architecture that defines who you are. It’s not a matter of being more rational or trying harder. The mechanism that would allow you to see the bias clearly is the same mechanism the bias has compromised.

— spf13, Why Engineers Can’t Be Rational About Programming Languages

…the qualities of a good Staff Engineer transcend what stack you’re working in. Ultimately, staff engineers need to be able to think about engineering decisions as a series of tradeoffs, and articulating those tradeoffs is a skill that you can have from any perspective within the stack.

— Will Larson and Tanya Reilly, Staff Engineer

When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy.

— James Clear, Atomic Habits