SureFire

We Need These Skills Now More Than Ever

“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, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

— Robert Heinlein
“Time Enough for Love”

3 Responses to “We Need These Skills Now More Than Ever”

  1. MRC says:

    Welcome to US Army Special Forces!

  2. Justin says:

    In the old days, I used this quote as the epigraph on my resume. It also hung outside my office door when I worked as a principal engineer at a startup. Back when we were still training to fight the recently collapsed Soviet Union, I was a combat engineer. Eight years. Five of those years I worked at a very small unit doing things that had little to do with combat engineering. While I was an average soldier, at best, I think I lived up to this. I hope I continue to. I am and always have been “…the man who was too lazy to fail”.

    This should hang in a lot more places. It’s as important to soldiering as Shakespeare’s St Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V.

  3. Wes says:

    Literally my favorite quote of all time. This would be an interesting article (to talk about the who/how/why of implementing this philosophy. Also Heinlein is my favorite author, more Heinlein quotes is good good