Progress is possible only if we train ourselves to think about programs without thinking of them as pieces of executable code.
Edsger DijkstraRead
Simplicity and elegance are unpopular because they require hard work and discipline to achieve and education to be appreciated.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Simplicity and elegance in work demand effort and a deep understanding to truly appreciate.
Edsger Dijkstra's quote highlights that achieving simplicity and elegance in any endeavor, particularly in programming or design, is often overlooked due to the hard work, discipline, and education required to attain it. While many may favor complexity and elaborateness, the genuine beauty of simplicity is found in the effort and skill needed to attain it, making it a rare and valuable quality.
Themes
SimplicityEleganceHard WorkDisciplineAppreciationEducation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about effective design principles, this quote can emphasize the value of simplicity.
More from Edsger Dijkstra
All quotes βSimplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
Edsger DijkstraRead
The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise.
Edsger DijkstraRead
We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsic limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers.
Edsger DijkstraRead
The tools we use have a profound and devious influence on our thinking habits, and therefore on our thinking abilities.
Edsger DijkstraRead
LISP has jokingly been described as "the most intelligent way to misuse a computer." I think that description is a great compliment because it transmits the full flavour of liberation: it has assisted a number of our most gifted fellow humans in thinking previously impossible thoughts.
Edsger DijkstraRead
Similar quotes
I think time management as a label encourages people to view each 24-hour period as a slot in which they should pack as much as possible.
Tim FerrissRead
Thirty millions, mostly fools.
Thomas CarlyleRead
When people are in the thrall of poisonous ideology, it's really not all about deliberate ill will, or inherent hatred, or a lack of intelligence. It's about the unbelievable destructiveness and staying power of bad ideas and about finding ways to equip people with the tools they need to fight them.
Megan Phelps-RoperRead
Some people simply bury their heads in the sand and refuse to think about the sorrow of the world, but this is an unwise course, because, if we are entirely unprepared, the tragedy of life can be devastating.
Karen ArmstrongRead
I am willing to let go. I release others to experience whatever is meaningful to them, and I am free to create that which is meaningful to me.
Louise HayRead
When we see the secret beauty of anyone, including ourselves, we see past our judgment and fear into the core of who we truly are - not an entrapped self but the radiance of goodness.
Tara BrachRead