I disagree. My path went like this:
HTML->CSS->php->javascript->C#->Visual Basic->Java->Ruby->Python->C->Go->Scheme->Lisp->Haskell
I believe the "python way" and "pythonic" code that the community pushes is great for newbies, since it gets them thinking about not just writing code, but writing it idiomatically.
This, in turn, makes most think about why doing it the "pythonic" way works better.
>Always remember going from something difficult to simple is easy, but going from something simple to difficult is not easy.
Great. There are plenty of hard working people to make this "piece of wisdom" completely worthless.
>Starting out with Python as a newbie is disastrous.
... why?
I started out with assembly, then went to C and then all the C-family based languages. Non C-family languages are actually rare enough to neglect for 99% of all programming tasks today.
Always remember going from something difficult to simple is easy, but going from something simple to difficult is not easy.