Alan Perlis Quotes

Adding functionality is not just a matter of adding code.

Ubuntu is doing amazing things, and I think it's going to change the face of the desktop.

The world is changing, and I believe that, if I want to stay employed as a programmer, I'm going to have to change with it.

So Chuck and I looked at that and we hacked on em for a while, and eventually we ripped the stuff out of em and put some of it into what was then called en, which was really ed with some em features.

The computing field is always in need of new cliches.

In the practical world of computing, it is rather uncommon that a program, once it performs correctly and satisfactorily, remains unchanged forever.

All programming is maintenance programming, because you are rarely writing original code.

In order to survive, all systems must evolve by providing greater and greater access to the currents that flow through them. This applies to all physical, biological and social systems that survive and thrive.... But let’s take that one step forward... the systems just described are ... constantly evolving. This suggests another design principle: ... design for evolution rather than creating a static design optimizing for the present.

A corporation is a living organism; it has to continue to shed its skin. Methods have to change. Focus has to change. Values have to change. The sum total of those changes is transformation.

I look at a stream and I see myself: a native South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth and, one day, disappear - flowing from an origin that has been forgotten toward an end that will never be.

Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them.

Everyone is constantly transitioning.

I think you get to a certain point in your life and where you grew up stops reminding you of when you grew up. Everything changes, everything metamorphosizes.

No amount of artificial protection can permanently maintain an obsolete product, an inferior process or a moribund organization against competitors which are based on scientifically improved products or methods.

Change is the norm; unless an organization sees that its task is to lead change, that organization will not survive.

You become that to which you are most exposed.

IF you don't change, you can become extinct!

It's hard to make changes. Things get so comfortable and you don't want to move. Maybe it would do you good to be a little uncomfortable for a while, and do something different.

Change without continuity is chaos. Continuity without change is sloth-and very risky.

When your through changing, your through!

Only out of stir and change is born new salvation. To deny that is to deny belief in man, to turn our backs on courage!

We must learn to let go, to give up, to make room for the things we have prayed for and desired.

You're used to a TV show, and TV is just made for TV shows. It's not made for live events.So anyways, I was resistant to it, but I did it anyway.

You have to reinvent yourself.

Evolution is the secret for the next step.