Gordon

“Face it: You're always just a breath away from a job in telemarketing.”
― Douglas Coupland, Microserfs

“Premature optimization is the root of all evil.”
― Donald Ervin Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms

“I’m very self-motivated,” she’d state with an assertiveness that she didn’t quite feel in her gut, and the HR guy would look down at the paper in front of him and then back up at her blankly, as if to say, No, that’s not today’s password. Then she’d follow with something like “I’m also committed to life-long learning,” and the response would be dead silence. A few days later, she’d get a no-reply e-mail expressing perfunctory pro forma regret, telling her the spot had been filled and wishing her the best of luck.)”
― Dexter Palmer, Version Control

“The accents along the border, in Lindsay and Jedburgh, are thicker and harder to penetrate than in Edinburgh, as if, so close to England, these little Scottish villages have sworn to be more Scottish than the Scots, wearing their cultural identity like a sword and shield. Up yours, English!”
― Claire North, The Sudden Appearance of Hope