Hal Abelson Quotes
Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.

Quotes to Explore
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Science attempts to analyze how things and people and animals behave; it has no concern whether this behavior is good or bad, is purposeful or not. But religion is precisely the quest for such answers: whether an act is right or wrong, good or bad, and why.
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In many parts of the world, more people have access to a mobile device than to a toilet or running water.
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I don't believe in God personally but I have great respect for those people who do and different people have different religious views in this country.
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Don't ever forget that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world, it's the only thing that ever has.
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The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.
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Eliza Factor's first novel, 'The Mercury Fountain,' explores what happens when a life driven by ideology confronts implacable truths of science and human nature. It also shows how leaders can inflict damage by neglecting the real needs of real people.
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Perhaps gaining power doesn't cause people to act like takers. It simply creates the opportunity for people who think like takers to express themselves.
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People only see what they are prepared to see.
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Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them.
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I do things, and other people laugh at them. I rarely know what the joke is supposed to be or why they're laughing.
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I'm fascinated by the capacity to be able to do harm. I struggle every day with the ability of people to do evil. Not just the big things - the petty things that people do in order to make someone feel small, when it's so easy to do, and it hurts so much.
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After all, life hasn't much to offer except youth, and I suppose for older people, the love of youth in others.
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I think that God prepared me for Chris's death in some ways, because I've seen other people lose their spouses. I've known for a long time that life isn't fair.
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The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.
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A lot of people put pressure on me, but I don't think I feel that type of pressure. It is more of a good thing that people are trying to do that.
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Those few people who do respond to the dire conditions of the future - journalists, environmentalists, behavioral scientists - tend not to be powerful.
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The government of Iran has no problem with the American nation.
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I have enjoyed every call. The ones involving direct contact with people have been most rewarding.
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I don't listen to people who say my dreams are impossible; I just work to prove them wrong.
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I write songs for people who drive in cars. I really do.
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Men like to provide for women and their families. It's in their DNA. I'm obviously no scientist, but I bet if you could hear a Y-chromosome talk, it would say, 'I want to provide and hunt.' When the woman is the primary breadwinner, it's going against nature. I'm not saying that it's bad or wrong, I'm just saying that it can feel off.
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Those who are not angry at the things they should be angry at are thought to be fools, and so are those who are not angry in the right way, at the right time, or with the right persons.
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Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics.
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Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.