Echoes

In the great chain of causes and effects, no single fact can be considered in isolation.

You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines and use them routinely — all of them, not just a few.

The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.

More people are interested in trying to shuffle paper assets around than building lasting assets by producing real goods.

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people... Unfortunately, that's too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.

Nature is to be found in her entirety nowhere more than in her smallest creatures.

He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that.

The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.

He who is everywhere is nowhere.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

Everything in excess is opposed to nature.

Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.

Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

...if you are nothing but profit-conscious, you cannot see the opportunities ahead.

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.

In reality there are as many religions as there are individuals.... Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal. Wherein is the cause for quarreling?

God is in the details.

Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Everything is interaction and reciprocal.