Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost. - Bjarne Stroustrup

Maybe "just one little global variable" isn't too unmanageable, but that style leads to code that is useless except to its original programmer.

One of the things I really like about programming languages is that it's the perfect excuse to stick your nose into any field. So if you're interested in high energy physics and the structure of the universe, being a programmer is one of the best ways to get in there. It's probably easier than becoming a theoretical physicist.

C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off.