Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Human brains handle specific cases, but minds can discover universal principles that apply to every situation.
In plain terms
Use your mind to find general rules that work everywhere, not just specific tricks.
What can you take from it?
Mastering general principles gives an advantage in all situations.

Where it applies

  • problem solving
  • learning
  • decision making

Putting it to work

  • study first principles
  • identify patterns
  • abstract concepts

Questions to consider

  • What general principles guide your decisions?
  • How can you generalize from specific experiences?

Another view

The distinction between brain and mind is more poetic than scientifically precise.

More from Buckminster Fuller

  1. life is the spirit incarnate in time.

    Permalink to quote #15
  2. Of course, our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that speciali…

    Permalink to quote #17
  3. One of humanity's prime drives is to understand and be understood. All other living creatures are designed for highly specialized tasks. Man seems unique as th…

    Permalink to quote #18

Related quotes

  1. Knowledge is not a passion from without the mind, but an active exertion of the inward strength, vigour and power of the mind, displaying itself from within.

    Ralph CudworthRalph Cudworth quote #2
  2. During the earliest stages of thought, accommodation remains on the surface of physical as well as social experience.

    Jean PiagetJean Piaget quote #8
  3. To supply a thought is mental massage; but to evolve a thought of your own is an achievement. Thinking is a brain exercise-and no faculty grows save as it is e…

    Elbert HubbardElbert Hubbard quote #28