#com

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. ↗

— Joan Didion

#any #compulsion #compulsive #down #impulse

The composition of a single melody is born out of a bit of text, perhaps the first line, but it can also be the entire strophe; it can even be the poem's overall form. ↗

— Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

#bit #born #composition #entire #even

The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches his task with full humility, and avoids clever tricks like the plague. ↗

— Edsger Dijkstra

#avoids #aware #clever #competent #full

Don't compete with me: firstly, I have more experience, and secondly, I have chosen the weapons. ↗

— Edsger Dijkstra

#compete #experience #firstly #i #me

I mentioned the non-competitive spirit explicitly, because these days, excellence is a fashionable concept. But excellence is a competitive notion, and that is not what we are heading for: we are heading for perfection. ↗

— Edsger Dijkstra

#competitive #concept #days #excellence #explicitly

You must realize that honorary degrees are given generally to people whose SAT scores were too low to get them into schools the regular way. As a matter of fact, it was my SAT scores that led me into my present vocation in life, comedy. ↗

— Neil Simon

#comedy #degrees #fact #generally #get

The mind is no match with the heart in persuasion; constitutionality is no match with compassion. ↗

— Everett Dirksen

#heart #match #mind #persuasion

Take it from me, whenever you see a bunch of buggers puttering around talking about truth and beauty and the best way of attacking Ethics, you can bet your sandals it's all because dozens of other poor buggers are doing all the real work around the place. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

#philosophy #work #beauty

You don't have to find out what someone's mechanical abilities are. All those factors are already a known commodity. I've seen teams win championships and have their entire team quit the next day because they weren't happy. ↗

— Larry Dixon

#because #championships #commodity #day #entire

I have no concern for the common man except that he should not be so common. ↗

— Angus Wilson

#common man #concern #except #i #man