“Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial, people optimize the way they express themselves, and so express themselves differently with different syntaxes.”

— Erik Naggum

Re: S-exp vs XML, HTML, LaTeX (was: Why lisp is growing) http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/9a30c508201627ee (Usenet article). <br class="br">Usenet articles, Miscellaneous

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial, people optimize the way they express themselves, and so expre…" by Erik Naggum?

Erik Naggum118

Norwegian computer programmer 1965–2009

Related quotes

“Beings who are so uniquely constituted must necessarily express themselves in other ways than ordinary men. It is impossible that with souls so differently modified, they should not carry over into the expression of their feelings and ideas the stamp of those modifications.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Genevan philosopher

First Dialogue; translated by Judith R. Bush, Christopher Kelly, Roger D. Masters
Dialogues: Rousseau Judge of Jean-Jacques (published 1782)

“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.”

Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German writer

Sometimes quoted in grammatically corrected form as "They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed..." but the apparent editing error here is retained in the published versions of this translation.
Siddhartha (1922)
Context: Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another.

“My programme, The Art of Creative Expression, empowers young people with tools to express themselves.”

Dawud Wharnsby (1972) Canadian musician

As quoted in "Global citizen", interview in Scouts (July/August 2010), p. 41
Context: My programme, The Art of Creative Expression, empowers young people with tools to express themselves. We teach photography, art and drama, but it's not just the medium that's important, it's about what you are trying to say.

“History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves”

Jared Diamond (1937) American scientist and author

Source: Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

“When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Speak

Source: Speak

“Characters have a way of taking on a life on their own, expressing themselves in the simple philosophy of their times, and expressing beliefs acquired through living, working, and being.”

Louis L'Amour (1908–1988) Novelist, short story writer

Preface, in A Trail of Memories : The Quotations Of Louis L'Amour (1988) by Angelique L'Amour
Context: Characters have a way of taking on a life on their own, expressing themselves in the simple philosophy of their times, and expressing beliefs acquired through living, working, and being. Once characters are established, they become their own persons and the ideas of the characters are such ideas as they might have acquired in the circumstances of their daily existence.

“All literature is written by the old to teach the young how to express themselves so that they in turn may write literature to teach the old how to express themselves. All literature is written by mentally precocious adolescents and by mentally precocious senescents.”

Laura Riding Jackson (1901–1991) poet, critic, novelist, essayist and short story writer

"All Literature", from Anarchism Is Not Enough (London: Jonathan Cape, 1928)