This is a list of stuff others have said, or written, that speaks to how I feel about life, research, computers, beauty, and everything. I have been slowly adding to it since 2010, based on what I thought was clever, deep, endearing, or – above all – full of joy.

See also longer quotes from books and articles.

Life is a cheesecake. Remember that. — A dear friend

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? — Albert Einstein

I think there is beauty in everything. What ‘normal’ people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it. — Alexander McQueen

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. — Andrew Jackson

It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word. — Andrew Jackson

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. — Douglas Adams

First we thought the PC was a calculator. Then we found out how to turn numbers into letters with ASCII — and we thought it was a typewriter. Then we discovered graphics, and we thought it was a television. With the World Wide Web, we’ve realized it’s a brochure. — Douglas Adams

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. — Mark Twain

Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there. — Miles Davis

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. — Oscar Wilde

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. — Oscar Wilde

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. — Ray Bradbury

Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. — Richard Feynman

For you see, the headwaters of Shit Creek are a cruel and treacherous expanse. — Roger Zelazny

What is important is to spread confusion, not eliminate it. — Salvador Dalí

In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. — Steve Jobs, Fortune, January 2000

Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be—and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway. — Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

To sit and pass hour after hour in idle chatter with a roomful of strangers is to me the worst sort of torment. — Susanna Clarke

I ONLY WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE AND PLANT POTATOES AND DREAM! — Tove Jansson, Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip – Book One