Grace Hopper

"The most significant new computer can be a tool to liberate men, but the tools can also enslave them."

"I want to leave the world a better place than I found it."

"We should teach students how to think, not what to think."

"Innovation is the lifeblood of our survival as a species."

"I think they're crazy. I have worked with computers all my life."

"It is impossible to look backward and forward at the same time. I prefer to face the future."

"Human beings are allergic to change. They love to say, 'We've always done it this way.'"

"Every time you ask a question, you think about it. Every time you see a symbol, you think about it."

"The question is not whether machines think, but whether humans think."

"I always believed you have to stand up for what you believe in, and sometimes that means being alone."

"Why do we have to keep doing the same thing over and over? Maybe we should try something different."

"I am absolutely convinced that human beings have to plan for tomorrow, not for yesterday."

"Humans are necessarily confined to the present moment, so we must care for what we cannot yet see."

"I've made three major contributions to the field: the compiler, the cobol language, and lots of young people."

"You have to spend a good many years learning about your craft if you want to be a master craftsman."

"We are in the business of teaching our students to be independent thinkers."

"The nice thing about standards is there are so many of them to choose from."

"Human beings are not allergic to change the way they believe they are."

"Never fall into the trap of thinking that other people's accomplishments are somehow your failures."

"People often ask me, why did you want to do that? Because nobody had done it before."

"If I wanted to guarantee success for a product, I would try to make sure it was not ahead of its time."

"I wanted to be an admiral of the Navy. I have the uniform, although I ended up being a computer scientist instead."

"I think innovation is the result of hard work."

"I must have learned early that things don't just happen by themselves. You make them happen."

"You've got to have a passion for what you're doing, or it just doesn't work."

"Grace Hopper's Law: It's easier to get forgiveness than permission."

"The most important thing is to find out how to make systems that can think on their own."

"If you understand something, you can explain it simply."

"I believe I should have the right to do what I want to do."

"I was a teacher of mathematics, and I loved that career."