“Testing gathers information about a product; it does not fix things it finds that are wrong. Testing does not improve a product; the improving is done by people fixing the bugs that testing has uncovered. Often when managers say, “Testing takes too long,” what they should be saying is, “Fixing the bugs in the product takes too long”—a different cost category.”

— Gerald Weinberg, Perfect Software and Other Illusions About Testing

No one with expertise in the real world follows the rules to the letter; doing so is demonstrably inefficient.

— Andy Hunt, Pragmatic Thinking and Learning

There may be many and varied causes of emotional reaction in one’s personal life, but in the workplace, the major arouser of emotions is threatened self-esteem.

— Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister, Peopleware

“Placing Reason on the throne as ruler,” said Rappaport, “is equivalent to putting oneself in the hands of a logical madness

— Stanislaw Lem, Seth Shostak and Michael Kandel, His Master’s Voice

Programming then is fun because it gratifies creative longings built deep within us and delights sensibilities we have in common with all men.

— Frederick P. Brooks Jr., The Mythical Man-Month