"Ones and zeroes in the clean environment of a computer chip can be controlled absolutely. When you write a reasonably self-contained program, everything that goes right and everything that goes wrong is entirely your fault. It is not a metaphor; programming simply is small-scale godhood."

- Response from  Eliezer on Hacker News.

"Programmers are the Gods of their tiny worlds. They create something out of nothing. In their command-line universe, they say when it’s sunny and when it rains. And the tiny universe complies."
- "Programmers are Tiny Gods" by Derek Powazek, January 15, 2009.

32.) Computer programming is omnipotence without omniscience.

The flow of data in the universe of the computer chip can be controlled absolutely.  Everything that goes right and everything that goes wrong is entirely the programmer's doing. Programming is microcosmic godhood.  It's just too bad that all that power doesn't come with the requisite wisdom to use it.

Rant

I own a phone for my own convenience.  Owning that phone in no way, shape, or form obligates me to anyone else, and nobody has the right to be angry when I choose not to answer my phone, take the time to screen my calls, or  simply fail to return messages promptly.  This includes my mother and my employer.  Quite frankly, if putting my Skype number on a resume were socially acceptable, I wouldn't even own a phone. 

A lot of people behave as if this is my own personal peculiarity, but I think that it should just be good manners to conduct any form of electronic communication the way you would treat approaching a person's front door.  Knock politely.  Leave a note so they know you were there.  Then, go away if you're not invited in.

31.) Be wary of consistency.  It's the surest sign of a lie.  Even if it's a lie you're telling yourself.

"Do you mind a little advice? Starfleet captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. But the secret is to give them only what they need, not what they want."
- Scotty in "Relics," written by Ronald D. Moore.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, October 12, 1992

Scotty may have spent his life being rushed through cleaning up messes that were other people's fault, but he did always did it with a passion.  There was never any doubt that, though the Enterprise could explode into a million pieces at any given moment, there was no other place he'd rather be, and the crew love him for it.

Meanwhile, James Doohan may have spent his career shouting gibberish in a bad Scottish accent, but can you name another man who single-handly inspired so many people to become engineers?  That's a solid life's work.

30.) The first rule of business is that everything takes longer than expected.  Everything.

Leave yourself longer than you think necessary, and remember, Scotty only earned the nickname the "miracle worker" by routinely tripling all of his repair time estimates.