Quoting conundrum

I want to quote Gabriel: “A language should be small enough for a programmer to be able keep all of it in mind when programming.” Or maybe Gabriel and Steele: “A language should be small enough for an average programmer to keep in his head.” Really neither of these is quite right, and I want “A programming language should be small enough to keep in your head.” But how do I credit it?

“A programming language should be small enough ... to keep in [your] head” is clumsy. If I call it “after” someone it sounds like a picture, and “modified from” or “based on” like a program. And which of the authors should I credit?

I'll go with “after Gabriel” since it's close to what I want, and short. But citation was an obstacle, and to others as well. The second paper cited above is unfinished, and much of what remains to do is formal cites. How much communication does the rite of credit stop?