[rgrmrts]

Knuth was talking about a very specific thing, and the generalization of that quote is a misunderstanding of his point.

Source: Donald Knuth on the Lex Fridman podcast, when Lex asks him about that phrase

[nsguy]

I wasn't aware this was discussed, thanks for the pointer! I'm curious now what he says he was talking about ;)

[nsguy]

Here's that segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74RdET79q40