Parents are usually more careful to bestow knowledge on their children rather than virtue, the art of speaking well rather than doing well; but their manners should be of the greatest concern.
There is an effective strategy open to architects. Whereas doctors deal with the interior organisms of man, architects deal with the exterior organisms of man. Architects might join with one another to carry on their work in laboratories as do doctors in anticipatory medicine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Architects and doctors contribute to human well-being in different ways, one focusing on physical spaces and the other on physical health.
This quote illustrates the parallel between the roles of architects and doctors, highlighting how both professions aim to enhance the human experience. While doctors focus on healing and maintaining the internal health of individuals, architects design and nurture the external environments we inhabit, which also greatly impact our well-being. Fuller suggests that architects should collaborate like doctors do, innovating and improving the spaces we live in to promote a healthier society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about city planning, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of architects in public health.
More from R. Buckminster Fuller
All quotes →There is no such thing as genius, some children are just less damaged than others.
Only the free-wheeling artist-explorer, non-academic, scientist-philosopher, mechanic, economist-poet who has never waited for patron-starting and accrediting of his co-ordinate capabilities holds the prime initiative today.
The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.
I have spent most of my life unlearning things that were proved not to be true
The earth is like a spaceship that didn't come with an operating manual.
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