When I wrote TeX originally in 1977 and ‘78, of course I didn’t have literate programming but I did have structured programming. I wrote it in a big notebook in longhand, in pencil.

— Peter Seibel, Coders at Work

We can’t control outcomes in any sphere of life. All you can do – and therefore the only responsibility you have – is to put in the time and effort: into relationships, parenting, finding happiness, whatever. The actual result, in a profound sense, is none of your business.

— Oliver Burkeman, Help!

…don’t fall into the trap of thinking that it is your employer’s job to train you. This is your career—you have to take responsibility for it.

— Robert C. Martin, Clean Craftsmanship

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

— Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows.

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden