"Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material."
...in a positive sense, because he was also quoted describing Lisp as "the greatest single programming language ever designed", though I bet this was not in a Lisp vs. Smalltalk comparison :)
Here is another quote, this time from Alan J. Perlis:
> Pascal is for building pyramids imposing, breathtaking, static structures built by armies pushing heavy blocks into place. Lisp is for building organisms imposing, breathtaking, dynamic structures built by squads fitting fluctuating myriads of simpler organisms into place.
