To me being able to keep the entire language in my head is invaluable. When working with Go for example I know that I can dive into the bowels of some library d

To me being able to keep the entire language in my head is invaluable. When working with Go for example I know that I can dive into the bowels of some library dependency and I will be able to read it and figure out how it works. This is because the language encourages straightforward code and has very little magic. The code does what it says. We have to deal with complex libraries no matter of how big or small the language is. A small language that you can keep in your head makes dealing with them easier. I would also argue that smaller languages lead to more consistency not less simply because there are fewer ways to do things. Look at early Python vs modern Python for example. In very early Python (pre-2000 or so) there was actually "one and preferably only one obvious way to do it". Modern Python with all the features it has grown over the decades is the exact opposite of that. C++ is another obvious example.