--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can be totally rational with a…" description: "\"You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.\" — Akio Morita" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/akio-morita-11021_backseat_you-can-be-totally-rational-with-a-machi_693668.png" --- # You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you… ![“You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.” quote by Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/akio-morita-11021_backseat_you-can-be-totally-rational-with-a-machi_693668.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/akio-morita-11021_backseat_you-can-be-totally-rational-with-a-machi_693668.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/akio-morita-11021_backseat_you-can-be-totally-rational-with-a-machi_693668.png) > “You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.” [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rational analysis works with machines, but human collaboration often demands empathy over pure logic. **In simple terms:** Logic works with machines; people need empathy. Key Takeaway Balance data‑driven decisions with human understanding. Themes leadership collaboration empathy decision‑making Mood thoughtful balanced practical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - team meetings - product design - customer service - crisis management Key Concepts human factors emotional intelligence systems thinking Questions to Reflect On - When should logic dominate over empathy? - How can teams integrate both effectively? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on empathy can cloud objective assessment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backseat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backseat/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-logic-2878466/) [Rational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational/) [Rational Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-machine-5505574/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Totally Rational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totally-rational-4869985/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [The will to be totally rational is the will to be made out of glass and steel: and to use others as if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-will-to-be-totally-rational-is-the-will-to-be-made-out-of-glass/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [ It's what \[Hillary Clinton\] embodied and what the Clinton mystique was as it was passed down from parents to children and so forth. Because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/it-s-what-hillary-clinton-embodied-and-what-the-clinton-mystique-was/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“Most of us, in our civilized society, rely too heavily on reasoning capacity to make things happen. 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For a second, he thought she was going to erupt, and flinched. She saw that...and got control of herself with an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spider-robinson/annie-clouded-up-for-a-second-he-thought-she-was-going-to-erupt-and/) [Spider Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spider-robinson/) > [“There is a rational explanation for everything, regardless of whether that explanation is known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koda/there-is-a-rational-explanation-for-everything-regardless-of-whether/) [Koda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koda/) > [“Rational was for people who didn’t have a broken heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-kage/rational-was-for-people-who-didn-t-have-a-broken-heart/) [Linda Kage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-kage/) > [“From any rational point of view I am absurd; but there are no longer any rational points of view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/from-any-rational-point-of-view-i-am-absurd-but-there-are-no-longer/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Rational argument can be defeated by refusing to argue rationally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/rational-argument-can-be-defeated-by-refusing-to-argue-rationally/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [The enormous usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious and there is no rational explanation of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-wigner/the-enormous-usefulness-of-mathematics-in-the-natural-sciences-is/) [Eugene Wigner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-wigner/) > [“The wrong approaches to faith and to skepticism are equally detrimental to the path. For the former declares its answers too soon and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-wrong-approaches-to-faith-and-to-skepticism-are-equally/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [So how does one go about proving something like this? It's not like being a lawyer, where the goal is to persuade other people;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lockhart/so-how-does-one-go-about-proving-something-like-this-it-s-not-like/) [Paul Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lockhart/) > [“Love burns past logic and all rational time lines to consume everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-thomas/love-burns-past-logic-and-all-rational-time-lines-to-consume/) [Kitty Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-thomas/) ## More by Akio Morita > [Never break another man's rice bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/never-break-another-man-s-rice-bowl/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [(Japanese Government believes that if you have a big laboratory with all the latest equipment and good funding it will automatically lead to creativity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/japanese-government-believes-that-if-you-have-a-big-laboratory-with/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [Our plan is to lead the public with new products rather than ask them what kind of products they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/our-plan-is-to-lead-the-public-with-new-products-rather-than-ask-them/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [More people are interested in trying to shuffle paper assets around than building lasting assets by producing real goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/more-people-are-interested-in-trying-to-shuffle-paper-assets-around/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [Japanese people tend to be much better adjusted to the notion of work, any kind of work, as honorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/japanese-people-tend-to-be-much-better-adjusted-to-the-notion-of-work/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) > [In the United States businessmen often do not trust their colleagues. 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She had found her way through a hole in the windscreen, tempted by some seat-sponge for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/a-sparrow-lay-dead-on-the-backseat-she-had-found-her-way-through-a/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Look, if you're driving down the highway at 120 miles an hour, I'd rather be behind the wheel than in the backseat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wahlberg/look-if-you-re-driving-down-the-highway-at-120-miles-an-hour-i-d/) [Mark Wahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-wahlberg/) > [Intimacy doesn't have all that much to do with backseats of cars. Real intimacy is brushing your teeth together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/intimacy-doesn-t-have-all-that-much-to-do-with-backseats-of-cars-real/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Now there's a backseat lover. 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