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Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind.

— Donald Knuth

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Computers

More quotes by Donald Knuth

In this sense, we should continually be striving to transform every art into a science: in the process, we advance the art.

Computer Programming as an Art (1974)

The sun comes up just about as often as it goes down, in the long run, but this doesn't make its motion random.

The Art of Computer Programming (1968)

Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.

I define UNIX as 30 definitions of regular expressions living under one roof.

Any inaccuracies in this index may be explained by the fact that it has been sorted with the help of a computer.

The Art of Computer Programming (1968)

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Software engineering is the part of computer science which is too difficult for the computer scientist.

Friedrich Bauer Bauer (1971)

A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.

Alan Turing Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)

Einstein argued that there must be simplified explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer.

Fred Brooks

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Donald Knuth (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.