I like this! From Matz:

Ruby is a language designed in the following steps:

  * take a simple lisp language (like one prior to CL).
  * remove macros, s-expression.
  * add simple object system (much simpler than CLOS).
  * add blocks, inspired by higher order functions.
  * add methods found in Smalltalk.
  * add functionality found in Perl (in OO way).

So, Ruby was a Lisp originally, in theory.
Let's call it MatzLisp from now on.  

Since the late 1970s, I have always been happy writing software in Lisp, but except for the development of three commercial products and quite a bit of R&D, Lisp has been a hard sell. With the mass enthusiasm for Ruby on Rails, Ruby is starting to be an easy sell. My only problem with Ruby is that you don’t get the white-hot high performance of compiled Common Lisp – but I can live with that.