Many mathematicians derive part of their self-esteem by feeling themselves the proud heirs of a long tradition of rational thinking; I am afraid they idealize their cultural ancestors. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
Why has elegance found so little following? That is the reality of it. Elegance has the disadvantage, if that’s what it is, that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
If 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself: ‘Dijkstra would not have liked this’, well that would be enough immortality for me. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
The ability of discerning high quality unavoidably implies the ability of identifying shortcomings. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
The lurking suspicion that something could be simplified is the world’s richest source of rewarding challenges. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
The traditional mathematician recognizes and appreciates mathematical elegance when he sees it. I propose to go one step further, and to consider elegance an essential ingredient of mathematics: if it is clumsy, it is not mathematics. Edsger Dijkstra Read Quote
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 Read Quote
