In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can't. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
When a professor insists computer science is X but not Y, have compassion for his graduate students. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
Because of its vitality, the computing field is always in desperate need of new cliches: Banality soothes our nerves. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an… — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed - it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
To understand a program, you must become both the machine and the program. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
In computing, turning the obvious into the useful is a living definition of the word "frustration". — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot… — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
Optimization hinders evolution. Everything should be built top-down, except the first time. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
When a professor insists computer science is X but not Y, have compassion for his graduate students. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God. — Alan Perlis Copy Share Image
