…the lack of software skill never was the problem. Lack of managerial skill was always the problem; lack of software skill was merely a convenient excuse for those managers who lacked esteem.

— Gerald Weinberg, The Psychology of Computer Programming

…there is a conspiracy that you can find online: It is the one to keep you online, looking for conspiracies.

— Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny

Gödel’s work was seen as a reaffirmation of Platonism and, more recently a proof of the impossibility of Artificial Intelligence.

— Philip Stokes, Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers

System administrators can become cranky and unresponsive because they’re not directly exposed to competitive pressure. A salesman has to deal with customers, and a developer has to deal with competitors’ software, but a system administrator, like an old bachelor, has few external forces to keep him in line.

— Paul Graham, Hackers & Painters

You simply can’t thrive in a state of constant daily evaluation of the truth-conduciveness of your social world, any more than a flowering plant can flourish if its owner digs up its roots every morning to see how it’s doing.

— Alan Jacobs, How to Think