"By way of summary, let's try describing the hacker's dream language. The dream language is beautiful, clean, and terse."

—Paul Graham

"Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material."

—Alan Kay

"Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot."

—Eric Raymond

"Nothing is hidden from you that doesn't absolutely have to be. The language offers abstractions only as a way of saving you work, rather than as a way of telling you what to do. In fact, the language encourages you to be an equal participant in its design. You can change everything about it, including even its syntax, and anything you write has, as much as possible, the same status as what comes predefined."

—Paul Graham