--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of my most productive days was…" description: "\"One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.\" — Ken Thompson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0de/ken-thompson-15903_code_one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throw_3992.jpg" --- # One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000… ![“One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.” quote by Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0de/ken-thompson-15903_code_one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throw_3992.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0de/ken-thompson-15903_code_one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throw_3992.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0de/ken-thompson-15903_code_one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throw_3992.jpg) > “One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.” [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker highlights that eliminating unnecessary code can dramatically boost productivity, underscoring the value of simplicity and refactoring in software development. **In simple terms:** Removing excess code improves efficiency. Key Takeaway Less code can mean more output. Themes software engineering productivity code quality Mood pragmatic insightful Type technical insight productivity anecdote When to use this quote - code reviews - project retrospectives Key Concepts refactoring technical debt Practical Applications - software optimization - training on clean code Questions to Reflect On - What criteria determine when code is redundant? - How does code simplicity affect long-term maintenance? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) [Productive Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive-day/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Throwing away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throwing-away/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [“How do I have productive days with minimum drama? Simple; I mind my own business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/how-do-i-have-productive-days-with-minimum-drama-simple-i-mind-my-own/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [As of today, the Postfix mail transport agent has almost 50,000 lines of code, comments not included.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wietse-venema/as-of-today-the-postfix-mail-transport-agent-has-almost-50-000-lines/) [Wietse Venema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wietse-venema/) > [Having children has made me incredibly efficient. It's hard to leave them in the mornings, but I'm extremely productive during the day, knowing I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivanka-trump/having-children-has-made-me-incredibly-efficient-it-s-hard-to-leave/) [Ivanka Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivanka-trump/) > [“Every little bit of stress you eliminate contributes to a more productive day. That’s not being a diva; it’s placing yourself in a situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilly-singh/every-little-bit-of-stress-you-eliminate-contributes-to-a-more/) [Lilly Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilly-singh/) > [In college, my idea of a productive day was to start writing at 7 A.M. and not leave my chair until dinnertime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-grant/in-college-my-idea-of-a-productive-day-was-to-start-writing-at-7-a-m/) [Adam Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-grant/) > [“I'm not throwing you away! I'm setting you free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleatha-romig/i-m-not-throwing-you-away-i-m-setting-you-free/) [Aleatha Romig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleatha-romig/) > [The organic gardener does not think of throwing away the garbage. She knows that she needs the garbage. She is capable of transforming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/the-organic-gardener-does-not-think-of-throwing-away-the-garbage-she/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [If you will take it into your mind to be sincere in throwing away your life for your master, you will not have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torii-mototada/if-you-will-take-it-into-your-mind-to-be-sincere-in-throwing-away/) [Torii Mototada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torii-mototada/) > [There seems to be a common strain of miserliness in the American people when it comes to throwing away toothpaste tubes which havea little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-seems-to-be-a-common-strain-of-miserliness-in-the-american/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I find beauty almost everywhere. Now more and more I find almost everything beautiful. That is why I have great difficulty in throwing away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-huxley/i-find-beauty-almost-everywhere-now-more-and-more-i-find-almost/) [Laura Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-huxley/) > [ Sadly, \[Pablo Escobar\] ended up throwing away the one opportunity he had. I naively thought, as a son and as many other Colombians, that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-pablo-escobar/sadly-pablo-escobar-ended-up-throwing-away-the-one-opportunity-he-had/) [Juan Pablo Escobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-pablo-escobar/) > [I have no friends and I never leave my house. You just have to make a choice to just refuse to be involved with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-fox/i-have-no-friends-and-i-never-leave-my-house-you-just-have-to-make-a/) [Megan Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-fox/) > [There was nothing wrong with the performance, apart from throwing away the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hoddle/there-was-nothing-wrong-with-the-performance-apart-from-throwing-away/) [Glenn Hoddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hoddle/) > [Most men are secretly still mad at their mothers for throwing away their comic books. They would be valuable now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-rudner/most-men-are-secretly-still-mad-at-their-mothers-for-throwing-away/) [Rita Rudner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-rudner/) ## More by 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/) > [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…](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/) [Explore all 41 Ken Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) ## More Code quotes > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. 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The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [I loved 'Chicago Code;' I watched that a lot. It was great because it really captured the city - I'm from Chicago, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessy-schram/i-loved-chicago-code-i-watched-that-a-lot-it-was-great-because-it/) [Jessy Schram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessy-schram/) > [I kind of pride myself on coming onto things that are well-oiled machines and finding a way to bring what I bring and fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-kind-of-pride-myself-on-coming-onto-things-that-are-well-oiled/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [When we're done simplifying the tax code, getting the lobbyist carve outs our of the tax code, lowering our rates and letting people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/when-we-re-done-simplifying-the-tax-code-getting-the-lobbyist-carve/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [The tax code is 10 times the size of the Bible with none of the good news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/the-tax-code-is-10-times-the-size-of-the-bible-with-none-of-the-good/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. That is to say, they could read their e-mails. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wilkerson/the-cheney-team-had-for-example-technological-supremacy-over-the/) [Lawrence Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wilkerson/) > [ \[T\]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/t-he-tax-code-has-been-piling-up-year-after-year-a-symbol-of/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [In open source, you really have to be near the watershed to have an impact on the source code. Customers want to be near…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-fenton/in-open-source-you-really-have-to-be-near-the-watershed-to-have-an/) [Peter Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-fenton/) > [We can use our art to become political, to become something you want to talk about. 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