The smallest prime is 2—the only even prime number. The largest, as this book goes to press, is 2^2,976,221 − 1, an 895,932-digit number discovered by Gordon Spence in December 1997 on a home computer, using a program downloaded over the internet; if printed, it would fill a 450-page book.

— Eli Maor, E

…anyone who says that they’ve “solved CAP” is saying that they’ve defied the laws of physics and thus should not be trusted.

— Luc Perkins, Eric Redmond, and Jim Wilson, Seven Databases in Seven Weeks

Durably useful engineering strategy and vision are the output of iterative, bottom-up organizational learning.

— Will Larson and Tanya Reilly, Staff Engineer

…apophenia, which is the human tendency to see patterns and connections through random data points, usually also coinciding with too few data points.

— Peter Hollins, Mental Models

…trying to signal wisdom by refusing to make guesses—refusing to sum up evidence—refusing to pass judgment—refusing to take sides—staying above the fray and looking down with a lofty and condescending gaze—which is to say, signaling wisdom by saying and doing nothing—well, that I find particularly pretentious.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, Map and Territory