2011年2月3日 星期四

Grace Hopper 名言摘譯

Why don't you just go ahead and do it? Remember, 
It is always easier to ask for forgiveness than it is
 to get permission.
為何你不動手去做呢?要記得:取得諒解總是比取得允許
容易。

A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are
 built for.
人們造船並非為了停泊在港口中,而是要駕馭驚濤駭浪。

From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer,
 we said it had bugs in it.
從此以後當電腦出錯,我們就說有 bug。

The most dangerous phrase in the language is, "We have
 always done it this way."
最危險的一句話是:我們一直都是這麼做的。

Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, We
 have always done it this way. I try to fight that.
 That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs
 counter-clockwise.
人類對於改變很敏感。他們總是說:我們一直都是這麼做的
。我嘗試挑戰這種想法。這也是為何我的時鐘是逆時鐘轉的。

Leadership is a two way street, loyalty up and loyalty
 down. Respect for one's superiors; care for one's
 crew.
領導統馭是雙向車道。對上忠誠也要對下忠誠。尊重上級,
關懷部屬。

One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert
 opinions.
一次精準的測量價值等同一千位專家的見解意見。

Someday, on the corporate balance sheet, there will be
 an entry which reads, Information; For in most cases,
 the information is more valuable than the hardware
 which processes it.
總有一天企業的資產負債表上會有"資訊"這個欄位。因為使
用這硬體處理的資訊價值,將會超過硬體本身的價值。
(Grace Hopper 女士生於1906年,卒於1992年,可見其高瞻
遠囑的先見之明)

We are 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.
人們總是得到過多資訊,這些資訊將需要輸入處理器。由人
類將這些資訊轉變為智慧與知識。我們容易忽略電腦不會問
新問題的缺陷。

To me programming is more than an important practical
 art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the
 foundations of knowledge.
對我來說程式設計不只是實用的藝術,也是建構知識基礎的
巨大任務。

They told me computers can only do arithmetic.
他們跟我說電腦只能做計算。

In pioneer days they used oxen for heavy pulling, and
 when one ox couldn't budge a log, they didn't try to
 grow a larger ox. We shouldn't be trying for bigger
 computers, but for more systems of computers.
在探險拓荒時代,人們使用牛群拖重物,當一頭牛搬不動
木頭,他們並不會找更大的牛來搬。因此我們不應該朝向更
大型電腦的方向走,而是建立更龐大的(電腦組成的)系統。

Life was simple before World War II. After that, we had
 systems.
二次大戰前的電腦是簡單的。在那之後我們有了電腦系統。

We went overboard on management and forgot about
 leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of
 Washington.
我們太注重管理反而忽略領導統御。也許華盛頓沒有企管碩士會好一點。

At any given moment, there is always a line
 representing what your boss will believe. If you step
 over it, you will not get your budget. Go as close to
 that line as you can.
任何情況下,你的老闆對你的信任總會有限度。如果你超過
他對你信任的程度,將得不到一毛預算可用。在這範圍內盡
你所能的逼近信任的極限。

I seem to do a lot of retiring.
我好像一直在退休。

I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he
 looked at it and looked at me and said, "What are
 you?"
我把護照拿給入境海關人員後,他看著護照再看看我,問說
:你是哪個行業的?