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

We infuse messages with meaning automatically, fooling ourselves to believe that the meaning of a message is carried in the message. But it is not. This is only an illusion. Meaning is derived from context and prior knowledge.

— Cesar Hidalgo, Why Information Grows

Yes, numbers can deceive. But so can words—not to mention pictures, hand gestures, hip-hop musicals, and fundraising emails. Our moral system blames the liar, not the medium chosen for the lie.

— Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings