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Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Corinthians 10:12).

The Apostle who gives such advice knew human nature and all its weakness perfectly. Day after day, this experience is confirmed: as soon as a man straightens up from the mud of sin, he sways and falls again. As soon as he is cured of the sin of avarice, he falls into the vice of vainglory. Or, as soon as he extends his hand to help a poor man, pride topples him to the other side. Or, as soon as he becomes accustomed to prayer, he opens wide his mouth to degrade those who are not yet accustomed to prayer. Or, as soon as he feels that the Spirit of God is directing him to the path of salvation, he immediately sets himself up as a teacher to the entire world until, unfortunately, through this he completely drives the Spirit from himself.

— The Prologue of Ohrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovic (Page 40)

I define “complexity” in a practical way. Complexity is anything related to the structure of a software system that makes it hard to understand and modify the system…. If a software system is hard to understand and modify, then it it is complicated; if it is easy to understand and modify, then it is simple….

Complexity is determined by the activities that are most common. If a system has a few parts that are very complicated, but those parts almost never need to be touched, then they don’t have much impact on the overall complexity of the system….

Complexity is more apparent to readers than writers. If you write a piece of code and it seems simple to you, but other people think it is complex, then it is complex. [emphasis in original]

— A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout (Page 5 - 6)

Established in 1923, the OGPU replaced the Cheka as Russia’s central organ of the secret police. In 1934, the OGPU would be replaced by the NKVD, which in turn would be replaced by the MGB in 1943 and the KGB in 1954. On the surface, this may seem confusing. But the good news is that unlike political parties, artistic movements, or schools of fashion—which go through such sweeping reinventions—the methodologies of the secret police never change. So you should feel no need to distinguish one acronym from the next.

— A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Page 177)

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water and the blood: and these three are together (I John 5:7–8)….

There is an enormous difference between “being one” and “being together.” The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One, whereas the spirit, the water and the blood are only together and are not one. Even enemies could be together, but are not one. All the people on earth are together, but they are not one. Water and blood constitute the body, and the spirit is the spirit…. They are not one, but they are still together. When man dies, the union is broken and ceases to exist. Blood and water go to one side, and the spirit goes to another side….

There is also another trinity in the heaven of man which should should be not only a unity but a oneness, so that man may be blessed in this world and in the other world. That is the union of the mind, heart and will. As long as these three are only in togetherness, man will be at war with himself and with the Heavenly Trinity. However, when these three become one, so that none rules and none is enslaved, then man becomes filled with the peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7), that surpasses ever man’s word, every explanation, every fear and every sorrow. Then the small heaven in man begins to resemble that great heaven of God, and the “image and likeness of God” becomes apparent in man.

— The Prologue of Ohrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovic (Page 33)

[W]hat can a first impression tell us about someone we've just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with then in every possible seeing at every possible hour.

— A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Page 120 - 121)