--- title: "1 Book Finished Quotes By Ken Thompson" description: "1 Book Finished quotes by Ken Thompson. Plus more from Ken Thompson and more Book Finished sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg" --- > [I still have a full-time day job, which is why it took me five years to write An Ear to the Ground, and why I won't have another book finished by next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-is-why-it-took-me-five-years/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg) ## More by Ken Thompson > [One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throwing-away-1-000-lines-of-code/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [There's a lot of power in executing data - generating data and executing data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/there-s-a-lot-of-power-in-executing-data-generating-data-and/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [One is that the perfect garden can be created overnight, which it can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-is-that-the-perfect-garden-can-be-created-overnight-which-it-can-t/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throwing-away-1000-lines-of-code/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I am a programmer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-am-a-programmer/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [It's always good to take an orthogonal view of something. It develops ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-s-always-good-to-take-an-orthogonal-view-of-something-it-develops/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I view Linux as something that's not Microsoft - a backlash against Microsoft, no more and no less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-view-linux-as-something-that-s-not-microsoft-a-backlash-against/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-criminal-code-that-saves-the-hackers/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I think the major good idea in Unix was its clean and simple interface: open, close, read, and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-think-the-major-good-idea-in-unix-was-its-clean-and-simple/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [Grant, if we edited Fortran, I assume that you'd put a column thing in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/grant-if-we-edited-fortran-i-assume-that-you-d-put-a-column-thing-in/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [If you want to go somewhere, goto is the best way to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/if-you-want-to-go-somewhere-goto-is-the-best-way-to-get-there/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I don't think there are many people up in research who have strong ideas about things that they haven't really had experience with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-don-t-think-there-are-many-people-up-in-research-who-have-strong/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [We tried to avoid, you know, records. We were told over and over that was probably the most serious mistake and the reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/we-tried-to-avoid-you-know-records-we-were-told-over-and-over-that/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [In fact, we started off with two or three different shells and the shell had life of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/in-fact-we-started-off-with-two-or-three-different-shells-and-the/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [The average gardener probably knows little about what is going on in his or her garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/the-average-gardener-probably-knows-little-about-what-is-going-on-in/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-finished/ken-thompson/#itemlist", "name": "1 Book Finished Quotes By Ken Thompson", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I still have a full-time day job, which is why it took me five years to write An Ear to the Ground, and why I won't have another book finished by next week.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Thompson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-is-why-it-took-me-five-years/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I still have a full-time day job, which is why it took me five years to write An Ear to the Ground, and why…” — Ken Thompson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-finished/ken-thompson/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-finished/ken-thompson/", "name": "Book Finished Quotes by Ken Thompson", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-finished/ken-thompson/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/ken-thompson-15903_book_i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-i_1405791.jpg" }, "description": "1 Book Finished quotes by Ken Thompson. 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