In passing I draw attention to another English expression which often occurs in Dutch texts: "the real world". In Dutch - and I am afraid not in Dutch alone - its usage is almost always a symptom of a violent anti-intellectualism. Edsger Dijkstra More Quotes by Edsger Dijkstra More Quotes From Edsger Dijkstra We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsic limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers. Edsger Dijkstra humble appreciation jobs Mentally mutilated potential programmers beyond hope of regeneration. Edsger Dijkstra regeneration programmers The prisoner falls in love with his chains. Edsger Dijkstra chains falling-in-love fall The problems of the real world are primarily those you are left with when you refuse to apply their effective solutions. Edsger Dijkstra problem real world The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim. Edsger Dijkstra question computers think interesting The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches his task with full humility, and avoids clever tricks like the plague. Edsger Dijkstra own like size humility The students that, like the wild animal being prepared for its tricks in the circus called 'life', expects only training as sketched above, will be severely disappointed: by his standards he will learn next to nothing. Edsger Dijkstra nothing training animal life
