1. Bad programming remains bad programming . . . No matter how you disguise it.

2. There's always a harder way to do it . . . But why use it?

3. Kiss: keep it simple, stupid. . . . It works better that way!

4. If a mistake is possible . . . It doesn't require a fool to make it!

5. To err is human . . . But it's no excuse for being stupid!

6. No matter how simply you design it, somebody can find a way to make it complicated!

7. There are nine and sixty ways, of asking what the keyboard says, and almost all of them are right . . . Sometimes.

8. If an error is possible, someone will find a way to cause it.

   • Corollary A: Only a fool believes every error can be error-trapped, and only a bigger fool tries.

   • Corollary B: An 'idiot-proof' program will never get past an idiot!

9. Small courtesies pay large dividends.

10. Too much of anything is too much.

11. The computer has no conveniences - only the user's!

12. To err is human, to forgive is good programming.

Additions from fellow programmers, personal experiences and unknown journal and / or web sources.

1. A fool with a tool is still a fool.

2. A tool with a fool is still a tool.

3. If you make a program fool-proof, someone will just invent a better fool.

4. All the easy fixes have already been used.

5. Real programmers can write FORTRAN in any language.

6. The real meaning of SCSI - System Can't See It.

7. Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.(Rich Cook)