Paul Allen Quotes

Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.

I always say I have a Socratic approach to most things that I do. I pummel people with questions, because I need to know what they're thinking, what they're trying to achieve, what they believe the final outcome is going to be.

The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions.

Since I was a child, I started to ask very difficult questions; even my family was telling me all the time, 'You're a very difficult person, and we were having trouble answering your questions. Why are you asking so many questions?'

The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he is one who asks the right questions.

It always helps to be a good programmer. It is important to like computers and to be able to think of things people would want to do with their computers.

I'm thinking of going to programming school. Learn how to sit down at any computer and learn to do anything on it. That's all I have left and have interest in.

My only weapon is the question.

My favorite question is 'Why?' I think it can be really helpful - I also think it can be annoying to people at times; I'll admit that. But I really do try to understand why are we approaching it this way, does it makes sense, is this the right answer, why is it the right answer, are there other paths to getting there, could those be better.

As software engineers trained to turn ambiguity into absolutes and fuzzy requirements into ones and zeros, we had a 'eureka' moment when we realized that our training had broader, real-world applications.

I worked as a programmer for 16 years.

Programmers are very creative people. And animators are problem solvers, just as programmers are.

I think everyone should get a little exposure to computer science because it really forces you to think in a slightly different way, and it's a skill that you can apply in life in general, whether you end up in computer science or not.

The task is not so much to solve problems as to propose questions.

I am a programmer.

Good questions outrank easy answers.

The question is just as important as the answer.

My first job was as a programmer. So I feel like I'm familiar with the information technology sector and the information technology culture.

Low-level programming is good for the programmer's soul.

All of my friends who have younger siblings who are going to college or high school - my number one piece of advice is: You should learn how to program.

People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on eachother, like a wall of mini stones.

The manuals we got from IBM would show examples of programs and I knew I could do a heck of a lot better than that. So I thought I might have some talent.

I've been programming computers since elementary school, where they taught us, and I stuck with computer science through high school and college.

That is the essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to a pertinent answer.

You might not think that programmers are artists, but programming is an extremely creative profession. It's logic-based creativity.