John Page

Complicated programs are far easier to write than straightforward programs — the exact opposite of what you’d expect. It’s easy to write complicated programs because you reflect the complexity back onto the user; you force the user to make all the hard decisions.

Company employees need to feel ownership of what they’re doing and have psychological ownership of the ideas they’re implementing, otherwise they’re not motivated.

You can have either high productivity or a great deal of control. That’s the trade-off programmers and users find themselves making all the time.

Flying is a lot like programming. A good pilot gives the passenger a flawless, boring ride, while a good programmer gives the customer a flawless, boring experience on their computer.

While you’re working hard on a complicated program, it’s important to exercise. The lack of physical exercise does most programmers in. It causes a loss of mental acuity. It also leads to physical weakness that can heighten the feeling of disillusionment that often comes after the second or third straight programming effort.