I try not to confuse roles and traits in my own life. Being the Perl god is a role. Being a stubborn cuss is a trait.

Younger hackers are hard to classify. They're probably just as diverse as the old hackers are. We're all over the map.

At many levels, Perl is a 'diagonal' language.

Most of you are familiar with the virtues of a programmer. There are three, of course: laziness, impatience, and hubris.

For me, writing is a love-hate relationship.

Portability should be the default.

I think software patents are a bad idea. Many patents are given for trivial inventions.

Symmetry is overrated. Overrated is symmetry.

The Harvard Law states: Under controlled conditions of light, temperature, humidity, and nutrition, the organism will do as it damn well pleases.

Over the long term, symbiosis is more useful than parasitism. More fun, too. Ask any mitochondria.

Hubris itself will not let you be an artist.

Who needs toothpaste when you have cigarettes?

Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child - our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

If you want to be a creative person, then you’re gonna have to be creative in how you put your career together. There isn’t a path. Part of the creativity is making your path.

Few authors are so interesting as their work - they generally reserve their wit or trenchant sarcasm for their books.

If you have the right knowledge you can substitute it for all the other facts of production

I wasn't quite used to writing a diary - I didn't understand why people did it - but I wrote down notes and they went into a poem.

If you want to see me cry, just come to a photo shoot.

Screenwriting is a much more collaborative effort. When you write a novel, it's just you, with input from your editor.

We all see the world differently. And thank God for that. Otherwise, what a boring world this would be.

Among all the wonderful things we have, we don't seem to have a time to love. And to me that's the fuel, that's the fuel we need to make the engine go.