Hoare attributed it to Dijkstra. See https://hans.gerwitz.com/2004/08/12/premature-optimization-is-the-root-of-all-evil.html https://hans.gerwitz.com/2004/08/12

Hoare attributed it to Dijkstra. See https://hans.gerwitz.com/2004/08/12/premature-optimization-is-the-root-of-all-evil.html https://hans.gerwitz.com/2004/08/12/premature-optimization-i... . "I’m sorry I have no recollection how this quotation came about. I might have attributed it to Edsger Dijkstra."