Reads
Last updated: February 7, 2026
A collection of quotes and passages that have inspired me, challenged my thinking, or simply resonated with me.
The joy of discovery is one of the best things about being a software developer.
— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid SunsOf all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.
— Oscar WildeExperience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
— Edsger Dijkstra, 1988The programmer has to be able to think in terms of conceptual hierarchies that are much deeper than a single mind ever needed to face before.
Things that are impossible just take longer than the things that are possible.
— Paulo Coelho, The AlchemistRemember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
— John Updike, Rabbit at RestWe are each of us like our little blue planet, hung in black space, upheld by nothing but our mutual reassurances, our loving lies.
— Paulo Coelho, The AlchemistThe simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.
— William ShakespeareLove all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
— Patrick McKenzieEvery great developer you know got there by solving problems they were unqualified to solve until they actually did it.
— Martin GoldingAlways code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
— Joshua Greene, Moral TribesHeroes who make enormous sacrifices for others are "inspiring," but when it comes to motivating real-world behavior, research shows that the best way to get people to do something good is to tell them that their neighbors are already doing it.
— Steve WozniakNever trust a computer you can't throw out a window.
The main point is that the only person who knows what a successful life looks like for you, is you.
— Marcus AureliusThe happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.
— AristotleWe are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
— Ralph Waldo EmersonWhat lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
— Franz KafkaStart with what is right rather than what is acceptable.
— Franz KafkaA book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.
— Franz KafkaBy believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.
— Franz KafkaYouth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
— Albert EinsteinIt is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.
— Friedrich NietzscheHe who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
— ConfuciusThe man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
— AristotleKnowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
— ConfuciusIt does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.