Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Grace Hopper (American Mathematician)

Grace Murray Hopper (1906–92,) née Grace Brewster Murray, was an American naval officer, mathematician, and computer programmer. An admiral who never went to sea, Hopper is known for her groundbreaking efforts in developing computer technology. One of the few women to make a significant influence on the history of computing, she helped devise UNIVAC I, the first commercial electronic computer, and marine applications for COBOL (Common-Business-Oriented Language.)

Born in New York City, Hopper was educated at Vassar College, where she taught in the mathematics department 1931–44. She then joined the Naval Reserve and was drafted to join Howard H. Aiken’s Harvard team as a programmer for the Mark I computer. She progressively developed a set of built-in routines and was ultimately able to use the machine to solve complex partial differential equations.

In 1951, Hopper created a new type of internal computer program called a compiler, which was designed to examine a programmer’s instructions and produce (compile) a set of “binary” instructions that carried out the programmer’s commands. Hopper’s ideas spread and were influential in setting standards for software development.

Hopper was required through age to leave the U.S. Naval reserve in 1966, but she was called back a year later to work on their payroll software. She was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1985. At the age of 79, she was the oldest officer on active U.S. naval duty when she retired again in 1986.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Grace Hopper

If it’s a good idea, go ahead and do it. It’s much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Risk-taking, Forgiveness

Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, “We’ve always done it that way.” I try to fight that. That’s why I have a clock on my wall that runs counterclockwise.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Change

We’re flooding people with information. We need to feed it through a processor. A human must turn information into intelligence or knowledge. We’ve tended to forget that no computer will ever ask a new question.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Computers

You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Management

Life was simple before World War II. After that, we had systems.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Computers

You don’t manage people; you manage things. You lead people.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Management

The most damaging phrase in the language is: it’s always been done that way.
Grace Hopper

You manage things; you lead people.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Leadership

I only know one person who was able to write a program in ink and have it run the first time. That was Dick Bloch. He drove nearly all of us crazy because he could do that. Since the Mark I was a relay and step counter machine, it was not too difficult to change the circuits. Every once in a while, Dick would get the idea of a new circuit that would make his problem run faster. He’d get together with one of the operators during the night and they would fix the circuit. The next morning my programs wouldn’t run. It’s much better to have machines that the programmers cannot alter.
Commander Aiken was a tough taskmaster. I was sitting at my desk one day, and he said, You’re going to write a book. I said, I can’t write a book. He said, You’re in the Navy now. And so I wrote a book. I have it here with me. This is the Mark I manual.
Howard Aiken always said that one day we would have computers that would fit in a shoe box. I don’t t know how he knew that, but he did.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Computers

One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Opinions, Opinion

It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Grace Hopper

Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down. Respect for one’s superiors; care for one’s crew.
Grace Hopper
Topics: Loyalty

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