Designing hardware is more expensive than designing software. It’s unlikely that a hardware designer would construct a system that used six different incompatible methods to do the same thing before breakfast. But because there isn’t the same up-front cost in software, software designers are often less careful.

— Jonathan E. Steinhart, The Secret Life of Programs

We may attack your beliefs. But only those who believe blindly, greedily or half-heartedly will be bothered by our brand of mockery. To question their beliefs threatens them; it makes a secret part of them ashamed, and they get riled up and start smiting.

— Subgenius Foundation, Book of the Subgenius

You want your software development to be more like farming. Farmers are methodical in knowing the lay of the land, studying its current chemical makeup, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting their crops. Software that is reliable, extensible, and maintainable is developed just as methodically.

— Mickey W. Mantle and Ron Lichty, Managing the Unmanageable

CASE tools were useful, but most of them became shelfware simply because they couldn’t live up to the exaggerated claims that were made for them.

— Robert L. Glass, Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering

People with a fixed mindset fear failure as they believe it makes their innate limitations visible to others, whereas those with a growth mindset are less risk averse by seeing failure as an opportunity to learn and develop new skills.

— Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky and Barry O’Reilly, Lean Enterprise