Skip to main content

Whether you are looking for some immediate inspiration or some basic tips, these software testing quotes often have a way of getting to the point without being long-winded.

You don’t always have the time to read long articles about the profession, so quality assurance quotes, engineer quotes, or a quick word from testers or programmers offer sound advice in no time at all.

There's no right way to lead a quality engineering team, but these quotes offer sage advice from QA thought leaders who've been around the block.

Software Testing Quotes

These are relevant, feisty and humorously truthful QA quotes from those in the know. These software testing quotes walk the line between poking fun at the profession while offering some sage advice about finding bugs, automated testing, or software development. There are often solid pointers woven into a quip or short statement that can affect your thought process. Whether you need a quick break, an uplift, or simply a smile, these quotes about testing can do all that.

“Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.” Martin Golding

“Reminds me of the awesome bug report I saw once: ‘Everything is broken. Steps to reproduce: do anything. Expected result: it should work’.“ Felipe Knorr Kuhn

 “The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.” Seymour Cray

“Never allow the same bug to bite you twice.” Steve Maguire

“First do it, then do it right, then do it better.“ Addy Osmani

“When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove defective code.” Richard Pattis

“If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.” Gerald Weinberg

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of meeting the schedule has been forgotten.” Karl Wiegers

Quotes can motivate, but the right tools can prevent burnout. Check out these efficient software testing tools to keep your spirits high

Coding & Programming Quotes

Programmers have some insight and a sense of humor similar to the testers. These are some quotes to enjoy while taking some of their interwoven suggestions to heart.

These software testing quotes about coding and programming are a good way to get some insight through a snippet of conversation and add in a quick smile to go with it. It’s great that some people have the talent to get an idea across in one sentence rather than a whole article. You may get a big takeaway from a small number of words.

“Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.” Martin Fowler

 “Java is to JavaScript what car is to Carpet.” Chris Heilmann

 “Sometimes it pays to stay in bed on Monday, rather than spending the rest of the week debugging Monday’s code.” Dan Salomon

 “Code is like humor. When you have to explain it, it’s bad.” Cory House

“Fix the cause, not the symptom.” Steve Maguire

“Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming: feedback is the treatment.” Kent Beck

 “Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable.” Ralph Johnson

“Make it work, make it right, make it fast.” Kent Beck

Quality Quotes

Quality quotes highlight the importance of the job and what QA means to a company and the profession. While the teams in Quality tend to be overlooked, they are essential to the production of a good product.

These software testing quotes make good business sense while driving home the point that product quality is as important as any other part of the process, if not the most important. To sustain a business, you must have consistent quality.

“Quality takes time and reduces quantity, so it makes you, in a sense, less efficient. The efficiency-optimized organization recognizes quality as its enemy. That's why many corporate Quality Programs are really Quality Reduction Programs in disguise.” Tom Demarcco

“Judge us on the quality of our products, and not the quantity of our paperwork.” Michel Van Mellaerts

“In many ways, being a good tester is harder than being a good developer because testing requires not only a very good understanding of the development process and its products, but it also demands an ability to anticipate likely faults and errors” John D. McGregor

“Quality is a product of a conflict between programmers and testers.” Yegor Bugayenko

“I think quality is core. You need to treat quality as a product internally, and you do not outsource a core product.” Mik Kersten

“If you don’t care about quality, you can meet any other requirement” Gerald M. Weinberg

“Quality is not an act; it is a habit” Aristotle

“Quality is the best business plan.” John Lasseter

“There is no such thing as a perfect method. Methods always can be improved upon.” Walter Daiber

“Quality needs to be constantly improved, but it is just as necessary to make sure that quality never deteriorates.” Shigeru Mizuno

What's Your Favorite Software Testing Quote?

Do you have any favorite software testing quotes? Please add them to the comments so I can add them to this article!

You can sign up for The QA Lead newsletter for our latest articles and podcasts, or join the waitlist for The QA Lead community to connect and share best practice with other quality engineering professionals.

By Jason Boog

Over his 15-year career, Jason Boog has worked as a QA tester, QA analyst, and Senior QA Analyst on video games, commercial sites, and interactive web applications. He spent more than a decade building out the QA team and process as Director of Quality & Client Support at a full-service digital agency.