Bjarne Stroustrup

"A well-written specification is the first step toward a good implementation."

"The best inheritance is not from classes, but from ideas."

"Simplicity and elegance are unpopular because they require hard work and discipline to achieve and education to be appreciated."

"The most important principle for the security of software is to assume that evil is possible."

"C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it."

"I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone."

"Successful programmers are not in it for the money. They are in it for the success."

"If you think it's simple, then you have misunderstood the problem."

"There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses."

"The key to performance is elegance, not battalions of special cases."

"In the context of programming, complexity is the enemy."

"A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is not worth knowing."

"I find it useful to distinguish between 'elegance' and 'simplicity.' Elegance is more important."

"One way to make sure your code will work is to ensure that it is obviously correct."

"The problems of businesses are solved by organization, the problems of organizations are solved by people."

"A programmer who cannot reason about the code he produces is a danger to himself and those around him."

"It's not good enough to write code that you understand. You have to write code that others can understand."

"The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away."

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

"Errors are by definition unexpected and undesired. They are also by definition ignored by most people."

"If you really want to improve your code, don't look for a better language, look for a better programming style."

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky if he can keep his head."

"A primary cause of complexity is that software vendors uncritically adopt almost any feature that sounds like it might be popular."

"When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So I decided to design the ultimate hammer."

"Dealing with failure is easy. Working with success is much harder."

"The duration of your life is unimportant. What matters is the quality of your deeds."

"The most successful people are often those who are not burdened by excessive education."

"I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

"Complexity has to go somewhere. If it doesn't go into the language, it goes into the programs."