“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”

Bertrand Russell

There have been many famous grumps in history, though few as quotable as Mr. W. C. Fields.

A man’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.

- W.C. Fields

This one is a timeless classic that pops up once in awhile.

They that would trade essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither.

Benjamin Franklin

Theres so much for me to write about, from lazy afternoons on Sauble beach to this or that crazy technical exploit, to something very amazing going on that I’ll talk about in just a couple of days – promise! However, when I’m mulling over the idea of having an underwater villain lair defended by those giant Japanese crabs with dolphin commanders and my eyeballs hit this phrase on Slashdot.. I had but no choice to parrot it here:

Lawyers are how you get business done in civil society. They are in many ways even superior to violence, because they can be used to attack vaporous legal constructs that you can’t well go out and shoot if you wanted to. They’re like samurai: have enough of them, and you can do anything you want. Don’t have any, and you’re just a peasant.

Words of the wise Kadin2048

I’ve been too busy to keep sane or write up blog entries, so please accept this fine nerdy quote in my absence:

“Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”

Mr. Eckert worked on ENIAC, which was arguably the line between two epochs in computer science. The interview is here

What’s the zaniest thing you did while developing ENIAC?

The mouse cage was pretty funny. We knew mice would eat the insulation off the wires, so we got samples of all the wires that were available and put them in a cage with a bunch of mice to see which insulation they did not like. We only used wire that passed the mouse test.

Found this while perusing a friends page that I happened upon through merely following links. Amazing, that. He’s into library-arts so I’m sure his jobs will be very difficult over the next few years, fighting with the evil DRM masters.

Although this theorem can be stated and proved in a rigorously mathematical way, what it seems to say is that rational thought can never penetrate to the final ultimate truth … But, paradoxically, to understand Gödel’s proof is to find a sort of liberation. For many logic students, the final breakthrough to full understanding of the Incompleteness Theorem is practically a conversion experience. This is partly a by-product of the potent mystique Gödel’s name carries. But, more profoundly, to understand the essentially labyrinthine nature of the castle is, somehow, to be free of it.

We are not business people, if things have gone well for us in this regard it is because our wild thrashings attracted devious minds, the scent of our naivete drawing them in like predators.

A little too familiar if I do say so myself :)

Just shy of posting too many quotes, I’ll risk another; there are and have been many fascinating people.

“The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded.”

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

So many interesting quotes from an interesting fellow, Right Honourable Edmund Burke

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

What you are will show in what you do.