Another way to put it is that you should aim to make software by _not_ writing code. The decisions you make on what problems to not solve and what problems to remove from the solution through design choices are just as important as the code you do write.

You can program either by bashing away the keyboard like a monkey on LSD, solving the problem by quantity, or you can write a program like poetry, the choicest of words coming from a clear mental design in the mind.

The quote itself is actually not to do with programming, but I left it up to others to interpret. When businesses see customer flow dropping off (because of say, recession) they tend to overreact, going into panic mode and try to solve the problem by reducing prices. Which helps a little, but it just means that they are more squeezed and standards are lowered and before they know it, they're scrapping the bottom of the barrel producing such low quality that customers no longer care. When the customers are running thin, don't ever lower prices. Showing confidence in your brand and your product is the only way to build lasting customers. Save money by doing the same thing more efficiently, rather than lowering prices. Apple (almost) never lower prices, they release a new model instead.

I believe that this model of confidence can also be applied to programming, and largely to web sites, given how so many websites resort to spamming the ever living crap out of their users as a reaction to lowering ad rates. The newspapers are equally lost and confused.