A running collection of lines I keep coming back to. Most are about science, engineering, or the difficulty of thinking clearly about complicated systems. A few are just funny. I’ll add to this whenever something new earns its way in.
On magic and technology
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke
On assumptions
Very few things are true without any assumptions.
Yoshua Bengio
On complexity
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
attributed to Albert Einstein
The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.
Richard Hamming
On models
All models are wrong, but some are useful.
George E. P. Box
On learning
What I cannot create, I do not understand.
Richard Feynman
On fooling yourself
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
Richard Feynman