Bjarne Stroustrup

"I do not accept that we should tolerate mediocrity. We should strive for excellence."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind simultaneously."

"Good programmers write code. Great programmers write great code."

"Language design is not about catering to the lowest common denominator."

"Every system has an implicit context and an explicit context."

"I like programming because it combines the best of mathematics and craftsmanship."

"A well-designed language can help its users write better code with less effort."

"The ultimate goal is to write code that is clear, efficient, and beautiful."

"There is no such thing as a perfect language, only languages that are better or worse for specific tasks."

"You need to provide a level of abstraction that the user can understand and work with comfortably."

"I have come to realize that the best code is code that can be understood by others."

"The most important principle for the good library designer is to refuse to be content."

"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."

"Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go."

"The key to success in programming is to focus on the problem, not the solution."

"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."

"Make simple tasks simple."

"The most powerful words in English are 'tell me a story.'"

"Programming is not about syntax; it's about thought."

"Good design is not about making things look pretty; it's about making them work better."

"I find that most people have very strong opinions about things that don't matter very much."

"The best code is often the simplest code."

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

"Complexity and stability are not the same thing."

"Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to read."

"The design must make it simple to use the system correctly and as hard as possible to use it incorrectly."

"Hope is not a strategy, but persistence is."

"I believe in evolution; I believe in a lot of things that maybe don't fit well together, but I think that's just reality."

"The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it."

"Compatibility of interfaces is a key issue for the future of software."