"We live in the 80's extended into the 21st century. The only thing that's changed is the size. Windows XP has 70 million lines of code. It's impossible for Alan to believe that it has 70 million lines of content. Microsoft engineers don't dare prune it because they don't know what it all does. Cathedrals have 1 millionth the mass of pyramids. The difference was the arch. Architecture demands arches."This is from a paraphrase of a (great) Alan Kay talk, here:
http://www.windley.com/archives/2006/02/alan_kay_is_com.shtml
Not asking if the quote was the direct inspiration, but if the reasoning was similar?