Generalists Quotes

“A specialist’s mind is a slave to his specialization.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Intellectually curious men become generalists. Intellectually lazy men settle for being specialists.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“We never know what an artist is going to do. Of course not. The artist is not a specialist. All such divisions as animal painters, landscape painters, painters of Scotch cattle in an English mist, painters of English cattle in a Scotch mist, racehorse painters, bull-terrier painters, all are shallow. If a man is an artist he can paint everything.”
― Oscar Wilde, Lecture to Art Students

“The sampling period is not incidental to the development of great performers—something to be excised in the interest of a head start—it is integral.”
― David Epstein

“The education system teaches us to be specialists; but the real world is whispering that we need generalists and polymaths.”
― Vizi Andrei, The Sovereign Artist: Meditations on Lifestyle Design

“Young scientists are rushed to specialize before they know how to think. They end up unable to produce good work themselves and unequipped to spot bad or fraudulent work by their colleagues.”
― David Epstein, Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World