Simplicity in #programming is overrated. The lisp curse is that things made of elegant small pieces are no more likely to be elegant in the large, when the complexity of the problem overwhelms simplicity of expression. Complex languages (eg C++) are that way for a reason. Having a bigger toolbox makes it more likely there is a feature that addresses your particular problem.
@tetron Where does Forth figure in to this, if you don't mind me asking?
@skquinn I've never written a program in Forth so take this with a grain of salt, but my impression is that it is similar to lisp in that there are some really elegant underpinnings but the hard problems in software are usually not about finding the most beautiful way to express your algorithms, it is finding the right abstractions to tame the inherent complexity of your problem domain
@tetron OK. Have you ever heard of the "Forth way" of programming? It was a bit weird when I first heard of it but it has changed how I approach some problems.
@tetron http://thinking-forth.sourceforge.net/ -- best I can do on short notice, but some of the other well-known Forth books teach similar concepts.
@skquinn sounds interesting. Link recommendations?