in reply to Thank you, Bob Geitz

This is a personal testimony, describing someone who made a difference in his life as a Perl programmer. I know I had a few people like that (tedv, tilly, tye, and many others who aren't on PerlMonks). Keep talking, brother!

Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.