mystic to the nihilist, is smaller than that from the butterfly to the larva, ‘The distance’, wrote Sorel, ‘from the theocrat to the mystic, and from the from the larva to the chrysalis, from the chrysalis to the butterfly.’

— Isaiah Berlin, Henry Hardy, and Michael Ignatieff, The Hedgehog and the Fox

The feeling of free will has been called an “epiphenomenon,” a psychological by-product of events that has no more influence on the universe, as it goes its predetermined way, than a rainbow has on the sun or on falling drops of rain.

— Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener

Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it’s not true. You feel this when you start to design things.

— Paul Graham, Hackers & Painters

…many psychologists are inept at identifying gifted children as well. I recently heard of a child psychologist who claimed that all the children whose parents regard as gifted are typically children with behavioural disorders.

— Andreas Hofer and Adrienn Raczi, Born Different

The more reusable code is, the less usable it is.

— Neal Ford, Rebecca Parsons, and Patrick Kua, Building Evolutionary Architectures