I find quotes inspiring, motivating or sometimes just thought provoking, so here's some of my favourites from over the years. Sometimes reading a book can have a real influence on how you write code, or how you approach a problem. Sometimes a simple quote is enough to make me question the way I look at the code I'm writing. Or often I sit in awe about someone's so well distilled what I've known internally for ages but have never been able to enunciate.
"Design is finding the problem, not the solution" -- Leslie Chicoine
"There's Nothing Functional about a Functional Spec" -- 37 Signals
“Legacy Code is Code Without Tests†-- Michael Feathers
"Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand" --Martin Fowler
"Testing shows the presence, not the absence of bugs" -- Edsger Dijkstra
"Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it" -- Alan Perlis
"Real developers ship" -- Jeff Attwood
"There is no silver bullet" -- Frederick Brooks
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something...almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." -- Steve Jobs