This idea — that the bottom level, though 100 percent responsible for what is happening, is nonetheless irrelevant to what happens — sounds almost paradoxical, and yet it is an everyday truism.

— Douglas R. Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop

If we could understand the reason for suffering, God would no longer be hidden. And only if God remains concealed, remains a deus abscondus, can faith escape contamination by coercion.

— Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener

It’s rare to see a major problem caused by lack of skill. It’s nearly always attitude, and attitudes are hard to change.

— Steve McConnell, Rapid Development

Avarice, the spur of industry, is so obstinate a passion, and works its way through so many real dangers and difficulties, that it is not likely to be scared by an imaginary danger, which is so small, that it scarcely admits of calculation. Commerce, therefore, in my opinion, is apt to decay in absolute governments, not because it is there less secure, but because it is less honourable.

— David Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary

Every person whose life is touched by software development has equal value as a human being. No one is intrinsically worth more than anyone else. For software development to simultaneously improve in humanity and productivity, the contributions of each person on the team need to be respected. I am important and so are you.

— Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres, Extreme Programming Explained