We all use imperfect software every day; little frustrations mentally accumulate in a way that little victories do not.

Eric Lippert

Free Will chooses causes, Fate handles consequences.

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

Martin Fowler

There is an incremental person who, when added to a project, makes it take longer, not less time.
Brook's law, by Fred Brooks, Mythical Man-Month

Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.
Occam's razor

Techniques that make good code look good and bad code look bad are more useful than techniques that make all code look good.
Steve McConnell, Code Complete, Second Edition

There has never been a shortage of claims that C++ was a dead end—often by people busily imitating it.
Bjarne Stroustrup, Expounds on Concepts and the Future of C++