“Don't explain computers to laymen. Simpler to explain sex to a virgin.”

— Robert A. Heinlein, book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Source: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Don't explain computers to laymen. Simpler to explain sex to a virgin." by Robert A. Heinlein?

Robert A. Heinlein557

American science fiction author 1907–1988

Related quotes

“Any inaccuracies in this index may be explained by the fact that it has been sorted with the help of a computer.”

Donald Ervin Knuth book The Art of Computer Programming

Vol. III, Sorting and Searching, End of index (1973)
The Art of Computer Programming (1968–2011)

“The idea behind digital computers may be explained by saying that these machines are intended to carry out any operations which could be done by a human computer.”

Alan Turing Computing Machinery and Intelligence

Source: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950), p. 436.

“Holly's theory about the army," Sharon explained.
And what is it?" Denise asked, intrigued.
Oh, that fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”

Cecelia Ahern book PS, I Love You

Source: PS, I Love You

“Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.”

Donald Ervin Knuth Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About

Foreword to the book A=B http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~wilf/AeqB.html (1996) <br class="br">Source: Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About

“If a Unity exists, in which and towards which all energies centre, it must explain and include Duality, Diversity, Infinity,— Sex!”

Henry Adams (1838–1918) journalist, historian, academic, novelist

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904)
Context: No one has ventured to explain why the Virgin wielded exclusive power over poor and rich, sinners and saints alike. Why were all the Protestant churches cold failures without her help? Why could not the Holy Ghost,— the spirit of Love and Grace,— equally answer their prayers? Why was the Son powerless? Why was Chartres Cathedral — like Lourdes today — the expression of what is in substance a separate religion? Why did the gentle and gracious Virgin Mother so exasperate the Pilgrim Father? Why was the Woman struck out of the Church and ignored in the State? These questions are not antiquarian or trifling in historical value; they tug at the very heart-strings of all that makes whatever order is in the cosmos. If a Unity exists, in which and towards which all energies centre, it must explain and include Duality, Diversity, Infinity,— Sex!

“You can be a virgin in horror the same as in sex.”

Louis-ferdinand Céline book Journey to the End of the Night

Source: Journey to the End of the Night (1932), Chapter 2

“To satisfy your curiosity, I can explain very plainly. But since Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, and God's primary object of this dispensation is Christians (it is His will that we lead Christians first because they are the ones who have been keeping the promise of the Second Coming), it is our mission to tell them first, whether they refuse or accept. If I explain everything plainly about the birth of Jesus, it may put a stumbling block in the way of many Christians accepting God's new dispensation. Therefore, I don't want to explain everything too plainly here.”

Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) Korean religious leader

Master Speaks (1967) Part 7: Bible Interpretation http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Books/sm-mast/MSTRSP-7.htm (transcriptions of Q&A sessions in March-April 1965)

“Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs: Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do.”

Donald Ervin Knuth Literate Programming

"Literate Programming", The Computer Journal 27 (1984), p. 97. (Reprinted in Literate Programming, 1992, p. 99.)
Literate Programming (1984)

“Go to the bookstore and look at how many bookshelves are filled with books trying to explain how to work the devices. We don't see shelves of books on how to use television sets, telephones, refrigerators or washing machines. Why should we for computer-based applications?”

Donald A. Norman (1935) American academic

Source: The Invisible Computer (1998), Ch. 10

“Computer science research is different from these more traditional disciplines. Philosophically it differs from the physical sciences because it seeks not to discover, explain, or exploit the natural world, but instead to study the properties of machines of human creation. In this it as analogous to mathematics, and indeed the "science" part of computer science is, for the most part mathematical in spirit. But an inevitable aspect of computer science is the creation of computer programs: objects that, though intangible, are subject to commercial exchange.”

Dennis M. Ritchie (1941–2011) American computer scientist

Reflections on Software Research (1984)

“Don't explain computers to laymen. Simpler to explain sex to a virgin.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Robert A. Heinlein557

Related quotes

Related topics