--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think it is fatal to specialize. And…" description: "\"I think it is fatal to specialize. And all kinds of things show us that and that the more diverse we are in what we can do, the better.\" — Jane Jacobs" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d34/jane-jacobs-1991_all-kinds_i-think-it-is-fatal-to-specialize-and-al_2764290.png" --- # I think it is fatal to specialize. And all kinds of things… ![“I think it is fatal to specialize. And all kinds of things show us that and that the more diverse we are in what we can do, the better.” quote by Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d34/jane-jacobs-1991_all-kinds_i-think-it-is-fatal-to-specialize-and-al_2764290.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d34/jane-jacobs-1991_all-kinds_i-think-it-is-fatal-to-specialize-and-al_2764290.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d34/jane-jacobs-1991_all-kinds_i-think-it-is-fatal-to-specialize-and-al_2764290.png) > “I think it is fatal to specialize. And all kinds of things show us that and that the more diverse we are in what we can do, the better.” [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Specialization limits potential; diversity enhances capability and outcomes. **In simple terms:** Being diverse improves performance. Key Takeaway Cultivate diverse skills and perspectives. Themes education diversity growth Mood inquisitive optimistic Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - career development - team building - innovation projects Key Concepts interdisciplinary learning skill breadth Questions to Reflect On - How can organizations encourage breadth without losing depth? - What fields benefit most from interdisciplinary approaches? A Different Perspective Specialization can deepen expertise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All kinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-kinds/) [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Diverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diverse/) [Diverse Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diverse-better-3193832/) [Fatal Specialize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatal-specialize-3193830/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Specialize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specialize/) [Specialize Kinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specialize-kinds-3193831/) [Things Diverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-diverse-2905744/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I think diverse stories are just stories. I don't think 'diverse' is an add-on package. Things that are not diverse are weird because that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kaluuya/i-think-diverse-stories-are-just-stories-i-don-t-think-diverse-is-an/) [Daniel Kaluuya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kaluuya/) > [I try to find meaning or value in most things and be as diverse as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arnaud/i-try-to-find-meaning-or-value-in-most-things-and-be-as-diverse-as/) [Francois Arnaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arnaud/) > [I don't think that you can dispose of the constructive and inventive things that America is doing - and say, "Oh we aren't doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-don-t-think-that-you-can-dispose-of-the-constructive-and-inventive/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [You can neither lie to a neighbourhood park, nor reason with it. 'Artist's conceptions' and persuasive renderings can put pictures of life into proposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/you-can-neither-lie-to-a-neighbourhood-park-nor-reason-with-it-artist/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense cities contain the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/dull-inert-cities-it-is-true-do-contain-the-seeds-of-their-own/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Obama has no power to change American policy because there are people who specialize in drawing these policies, which have been and still are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muqtada-al-sadr/obama-has-no-power-to-change-american-policy-because-there-are-people/) [Muqtada al Sadr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muqtada-al-sadr/) > [“The more you concentrate on what you discover that you will be good for you to pursue, the more experienced you will be while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-more-you-concentrate-on-what-you-discover-that-you-will-be-good/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [You specialize in something until one day you find it is specializing in you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/you-specialize-in-something-until-one-day-you-find-it-is-specializing/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [At some point in my life I thought it was good to specialize, but now I think it's good to build a bigger product…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashkan-kooshanejad/at-some-point-in-my-life-i-thought-it-was-good-to-specialize-but-now/) [Ashkan Kooshanejad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashkan-kooshanejad/) > [The instant people specialize, it's in their interest to dehumanize the people their specialized function operates upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/the-instant-people-specialize-it-s-in-their-interest-to-dehumanize/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I specialize in cool inside movie news. Specifically, the news from movies that excite us fans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-knowles/i-specialize-in-cool-inside-movie-news-specifically-the-news-from/) [Harry Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-knowles/) > [I specialize in science and history, with a special emphasis on including do-it-yourself projects in the mix. My dozen or so books have sold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurstelle/i-specialize-in-science-and-history-with-a-special-emphasis-on/) [William Gurstelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurstelle/) > [“To specialize is to brush one tooth. When a person specializes he channels all of his energies through one narrow conduit; he knows one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/to-specialize-is-to-brush-one-tooth-when-a-person-specializes-he/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Specialization, concentration and consistency is the key to outstanding performance... Love your zone!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/specialization-concentration-and-consistency-is-the-key-to/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [You have to specialize the product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-hinrichs/you-have-to-specialize-the-product/) [Lars Hinrichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-hinrichs/) ## More by Jane Jacobs > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [My mother used to say when we were children, 'When a boy gets a stick in his hand, his brains run out the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/my-mother-used-to-say-when-we-were-children-when-a-boy-gets-a-stick/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Design is people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/design-is-people/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them… for really new ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-need-old-buildings-so-badly-it-is-probably-impossible-for/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. 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Not knowing this, governments, their development and aid agencies, the World…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/development-isn-t-a-collection-of-things-but-rather-a-process-that/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Most sentimental ideas imply, at bottom, a deep if unacknowledged disrespect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/most-sentimental-ideas-imply-at-bottom-a-deep-if-unacknowledged/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Beneficent spirals, operating by benign feedback, mean that everything needful is not required at once: each individual improvement is beneficial for the whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/beneficent-spirals-operating-by-benign-feedback-mean-that-everything/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“I tis hopeless to try to convert some borders into seams. Expressways and their ramps are examples. Moreover, even in the case of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-tis-hopeless-to-try-to-convert-some-borders-into-seams-expressways/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/probably-the-most-important-element-in-intricacy-is-centering-good/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Throughout the world Dark Ages have scrawled finis to successions of cultures receding far into the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/throughout-the-world-dark-ages-have-scrawled-finis-to-successions-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Privacy is precious in cities. It is indispensable. Perhaps it is precious and indispensable everywhere, but in most places you cannot get it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/privacy-is-precious-in-cities-it-is-indispensable-perhaps-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Explore all 193 Jane Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More All kinds quotes > [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [I'm not technically proficient enough to attempt all kinds of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-gallagher/i-m-not-technically-proficient-enough-to-attempt-all-kinds-of-music/) [Noel Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-gallagher/) > [My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Sydney is full of the craziest and most talented artists of all kinds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiynan-lonsdale/sydney-is-full-of-the-craziest-and-most-talented-artists-of-all-kinds/) [Keiynan Lonsdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiynan-lonsdale/) > [Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/baseball-needs-to-put-the-steroids-era-behind-it-by-having-and/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [You know, the world’s not running out of oil. There’s all kinds of oil left in all kinds of places. …We’re never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-rubin/you-know-the-world-s-not-running-out-of-oil-there-s-all-kinds-of-oil/) [Jeff Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-rubin/) > [I grew up with all kinds of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-diesel/i-grew-up-with-all-kinds-of-people/) [Vin Diesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-diesel/) > [Because there were all kinds of hell - some were black and dirty, and some were silvery and high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/because-there-were-all-kinds-of-hell-some-were-black-and-dirty-and/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [The architecture of the song, if it's built properly, can withstand all kinds of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-haines/the-architecture-of-the-song-if-it-s-built-properly-can-withstand-all/) [Emily Haines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-haines/) > [There are all kinds of writers. The best writers write children's books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-scarry/there-are-all-kinds-of-writers-the-best-writers-write-children-s-books/) [Richard Scarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-scarry/) > [We also need to make sure women can be in charge of their reproductive health. We can't defund places like Planned Parenthood, where women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissy-teigen/we-also-need-to-make-sure-women-can-be-in-charge-of-their/) [Chrissy Teigen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissy-teigen/) > [The single greatest pleasure that I have in doing ('Bizarre Foods') is when I meet families with 6, 7, 8-year-olds, or teenagers, who say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimmern/the-single-greatest-pleasure-that-i-have-in-doing-bizarre-foods-is/) [Andrew Zimmern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimmern/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. 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