For nearly all of history, people’s lives have been governed primarily by ignorance. … Failures of ignorance we can forgive. If the knowledge of the best thing to do in a given situation does not exist, we are happy to have people simply make their best effort. But if the knowledge exists and is not applied correctly, it is difficult not to be infuriated. … It is not for nothing that philosophers gave these failures so unmerciful a name—ineptitude.

— Adam Barr, The Probelem With Software

A common misconception about bitcoin transactions is that they must be “confirmed” by waiting 10 minutes for a new block, or up to 60 minutes for a full six confirmations. Although confirmations ensure the transaction has been accepted by the whole network, such a delay is unnecessary for small-value items such as a cup of coffee. A merchant may accept a valid small-value transaction with no confirmations, with no more risk than a credit card payment made without an ID or a signature, as merchants routinely accept today.

— Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Mastering Bitcoin

…it is often necessary for the software requirements gathering process to be (a) iterative (it is difficult to be sure at first glance which requirements are relevant to the software), and (b) interactive (software requirements gatherers must interact with requirements gatherers from other disciplines to divide up the requirements properly).

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

…man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions

— Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism

In the absence of contrary evidence, if a belief satisfies a human desire, that too is a practical consequence and therefore a legitimate basis for calling certain beliefs true.

— Martin Gardner, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener