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.
The synergetic integral of the totality of all principles is God, whose sum-total behavior in pure principle is beyond our comprehension and is utterly mysterious to us, because as humans--in pure principle--we do not and never will know all the principles
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that God represents the ultimate understanding of all principles, which is beyond human comprehension.
R. Buckminster Fuller conveys the idea that the essence of God embodies the integration of all principles in existence. He emphasizes the limitations of human understanding, indicating that while we strive to comprehend the universe's complexities, the complete nature of these principles—and by extension, God—remains an inscrutable mystery. This reflects a profound philosophical stance on the relationship between humanity and the divine, highlighting the quest for knowledge while acknowledging our inherent limitations.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion about spirituality and the universe, referencing this quote can illustrate the limitations of human knowledge.
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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If you don't have the smoking gun, then it's pointless to hector interviewees. Because you just shut people up instead of opening them up.
Spiritual seeking means knowing this negative part: that desiring is the root cause of frustration. To desire is to create, of one`s own accord, a shell. Desiring is the world. To be worldly is to desire and to go on desiring, never becoming aware that each desire comes to nothing but frustration. Once you become aware of this, then you do not desire, or your only desire is to know what is.
The concept that one ought to restrict one's political involvement to one's own state was deeply antithetical to those who were pursuing the accumulation of capital for its own sake.
From these prejudices there arises conflict, transient joys and suffering. But we are unconscious of this, unconscious that we are slaves to certain forms of tradition, to social and political environment, to false values.
One cannot completely get rid of the six passions: lust, anger, greed, and the like. Therefore one should direct them to God. If you must have desire and greed, then you should desire love of God and be greedy to attain Him.
True progress lies in the direction of decentralization, both territorial and functional, in the development of the spirit of local and personal initiative, and of free federation from the simple to the compound, in lieu of the present hierarchy from the centre to the periphery.