Three Virtues (Larry Wall)

I have a saying I've given to every programmer I've mentored, that builds on what Larry Wall said: Good programmers are Lazy, Shy, Dry, and Spry.

Lazy - Same thing, but also with emphasis on automation and guarding against overengineering

Shy - Encapsulating code modules and writing to enable testing in isolation

Dry - Don't repeat yourself, automate where you can when you can

Spry - Always be willing to adapt better processes, adopt the Agile mindset and don't be a slave to any one process or technique. At a deeper level this includes striving for the Ri level of Shu Ha Ri in our programming skills [1]

The above is going in a book I'm writing, albeit slowly.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari