Quotes & Sayings About Generalists

Intellectually curious men become generalists. Intellectually lazy men settle for being specialists. — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Farmers were always generalists. They had to know science and commerce and all sorts of practical things. — Rush D. Holt Jr.

Generalists, people with moderately strong attachments to many ideas, should be hard to interrupt, and once interrupted, should have weaker, shorter negative reactions since they have alternative paths to realize their plans. Specialists, people with stronger attachments to fewer ideas, should be easier to interrupt, and once interrupted, should have stronger, more sustained negative reactions because they have fewer alternative pathways to realize their plans. Generalists should be the upbeat, positive people in the profession while specialists should be their grouchy, negative counterparts. — Karl E. Weick

A tip for generalists who try to read economic research papers: If you get to a section that's incomprehensible, don't give up. Just skip to the next section. — David Leonhardt

We are generalists. You can't draw neat lines around planet-wide problems. Planetology is a cut-and-fit science. — Frank Herbert

The built environment is shaped not only by private sector development pratices, but also by the honored and fascinating field of planning. Planners in towns, counties, regional and state government, consulting firms and in economic development agencies translate ideas about human settlements into concrete designs. They can be generalists or specialize in transportation, urban centers, rural land use, economic development and more. At its best, the planning profession aims to mediate tensions between people, social groups, and the natural environment by creating an orderly process for determining common values, shared priorities and elegant principles for transcending conflicts. Therefore planners may find themselves caught in some of the most challenging political crossfire to be found. But they also have the opportunity to educate many sectors and communities. — Melissa Everett

People with highly transferable skills may be specialists in certain areas, but they're also incredible generalists - something businesses that want to grow need. — Leah Busque

I also work here because I love books, because I'm inveterately curious, and because, like most librarians, I'm not well suited to anything else. As a breed, we're the ultimate generalists. I'll never know everything about anything, but I'll know something about almost everything and that's how I like to live. — Josh Hanagarne

Writers have no real area of expertise. They are merely generalists with a highly inflamed sense of punctuation. — Lorrie Moore

A specialist's mind is a slave to his specialization. — Mokokoma Mokhonoana