Edsger Dijkstra on Algol

Edsger W. Dijkstra on the influence of Algol-60:

In a short summary I could formulate as follows: through its merits ALGOL 60 has inspired a great number of people to make translators for it, through its defects it has induced a great number of people to think about the aims of a "Programming Language".

from the essay, Some Meditations on Advanced Programming.