I stumbled across a pile of Bruce Lee quotes today; and it seems to me given the spirit of these one-liners that he must've been a deeply experienced programmer. In spirit. Maybe. Anyway, here they are:

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

Translation: Don't reinvent the wheel. Import that fuckin' library.

“All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”

Translation: There's no silver bullet. There are no absolute design patterns. Every abstraction has its exceptions.

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

Translation: Just SHIP IT. Don't over-engineer or overthink the damn thing.

“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”

Translation: Delete code. Refactor, refactor, refactor. Less code is better code. Simplify that feature. Do they really need that checkbox?

“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”

Translation: Just try and see. Don't wring your hands forever over that new product or feature.

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Not sure what to do with this one but I liked it.