A Quote by Ken Thompson

FORTRAN was the language of choice for the same reason that three-legged races are popular.

Ken Thompson

Quote Topics

Choice Language Popular Races Reason Same Three

Quote Author

Ken Thompson
American - Scientist
Born: February 4, 1943

If you give someone Fortran, he has Fortran. If you give someone Lisp, he has any language he pleases

Guy Steele

It is clear, from these considerations, that the three methods of classifying mankind-that according to physical characters, according to language, and according to culture-all reflect the historical development of races from different standpoints; and that the results of the three classifications are not comparable, because the historical facts do not affect the three classes of phenomena equally. A consideration of all these classes of facts is needed when we endeavour to reconstruct the early history of the races of mankind.

Franz Boas

You know the only thing happier than a three-legged dog? A four-legged dog.

Louis C. K.

He had about the same life expectancy as a three legged hedgehog on a six lane motorway.

Terry Pratchett

There's no reason for the electors to overrule the popular choice.

Lawrence Lessig

Anyone could learn Lisp in one day, except that if they already knew Fortran, it would take three days.

Marvin Minsky

All official institutions of language are repeating machines: school, sports, advertising, popular songs, news, all continually repeat the same structure, the same meaning, often the same words: the stereotype is a political fact, the major figure of ideology.

Roland Barthes

Reason can never be popular. Passions and feelings may become popular, but reason will always remain the sole property of a few eminent individuals.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I go to see grand prix every year, and I watch every race on TV for sure. I probably go to three or four CART races and three or four Formula One races.

Emerson Fittipaldi

A wise man had said that your Christian life is like a three-legged stool. The legs are doctrine, experience and practice, which is obedience; and you, will not stay upright unless all three are there. In recent years many Christians have not kept these three together.

J. I. Packer

I ran for the Senate six times. And one of the things I know about Senate races off years and on races, and on years, the same as governor's races, is it's all local. It all gets down to what the specific issues in that - in that district or that state is.

Joe Biden

We believe we can also show that words do not have exactly the same psychic "weight" depending on whether they belong to the language of reverie or to the language of daylight life-to rested language or language under surveillance-to the language of natural poetry or to the language hammered out by authoritarian prosodies.

Gaston Bachelard

One of the great secrets of the day is to know how to take possession of popular prejudices and passions, in such a way as to introduce a confusion of principles which makes impossible all understanding between those who speak the same language and have the same interests.

Niccolo Machiavelli

The Urdu or Hindustani language we use isn't popular in theatre these days. It was a language that was being used in cinema from the 1950s until the '80s. It is a very communicative language.