--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With type as with philosophy, music and…" description: "\"With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the routi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png" --- # With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better… ![“With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the routine.” quote by Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png) > “With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the routine.” [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Quality in design, music, and cuisine is better achieved by focusing on a few excellent elements than by overloading with mediocre, derivative content. **In simple terms:** Focus on a few excellent elements rather than many mediocre ones. Key Takeaway Choose depth over breadth in creative pursuits. Themes design quality minimalism Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - product design - menu planning - music composition - branding strategy Key Concepts aesthetic curation excellence Questions to Reflect On - What criteria define “the best” in your field? - How can you maintain variety while keeping high standards? A Different Perspective Risk of overlooking diversity and innovation by limiting choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Routine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routine/) ## Related quotes > [Money doesn’t just buy you a better life, better food, better cars, better pussy — it also makes you a better person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-belfort/money-doesn-t-just-buy-you-a-better-life-better-food-better-cars/) [Jordan Belfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-belfort/) > [“Great love is like great home-made food. They're both much better shared.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissie-manby/great-love-is-like-great-home-made-food-they-re-both-much-better/) [Chrissie Manby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissie-manby/) > [I think all food except for maybe pizza and Mexican food is better in Japan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-barlow/i-think-all-food-except-for-maybe-pizza-and-mexican-food-is-better-in/) [Lou Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-barlow/) > [Fine. Don't respond to my text. I like food better than I like you anyways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fine-don-t-respond-to-my-text-i-like-food-better-than-i-like-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Basically, there are two things we know: Everybody has less time, and the general public is demanding better food - better in terms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-flay/basically-there-are-two-things-we-know-everybody-has-less-time-and/) [Bobby Flay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-flay/) > [I moved to New York last year and I love it. It's a huge change and I've always wanted to spend time there. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/i-moved-to-new-york-last-year-and-i-love-it-it-s-a-huge-change-and-i/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [Virtue, like wholesome food, is better than poisons, however corrected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/virtue-like-wholesome-food-is-better-than-poisons-however-corrected/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [It's important for me who is at the table with me; the moment when everyone speaks to each other and everyone listens. If there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/it-s-important-for-me-who-is-at-the-table-with-me-the-moment-when/) [Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/) > [From a Twitter post on why food is better than people: 'Bagels don't talk about you behind your back.' ... Since WHEN???](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-alejandro-king-aka-the-covert-comic/from-a-twitter-post-on-why-food-is-better-than-people-bagels-don-t/) [John Alejandro King Aka The Covert Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-alejandro-king-aka-the-covert-comic/) > [Food is better medicine than drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-holford/food-is-better-medicine-than-drugs/) [Patrick Holford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-holford/) > [“I know this doesn't make sense, but if we ever did this before, exactly this, with you sitting over there and me here, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-straub/i-know-this-doesn-t-make-sense-but-if-we-ever-did-this-before-exactly/) [Peter Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-straub/) > [So, what's it like in the real world? Well, the food is better, but beyond that, I don't recommend it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/so-what-s-it-like-in-the-real-world-well-the-food-is-better-but/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [High-quality food is better for your health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/high-quality-food-is-better-for-your-health/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Food is much better off the hand than the fork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/food-is-much-better-off-the-hand-than-the-fork/) [Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/) > [You're better than seven years of food. You're better than windows. You're even better than the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/you-re-better-than-seven-years-of-food-you-re-better-than-windows-you/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) ## More by Robert Bringhurst > [Popularity isn't just something that happens. You have to give something in exchange for it, and that's the dangerous part of the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/popularity-isn-t-just-something-that-happens-you-have-to-give/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [“Logograms pose a more difficult question. An increasing number of persons and institutions, from archy and mehitabel to PostScript and TrueType, come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/logograms-pose-a-more-difficult-question-an-increasing-number-of/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [How much money you get, depends on lots of extraneous things. It depends on how good you are at turning poetry into a marketable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/how-much-money-you-get-depends-on-lots-of-extraneous-things-it/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Anxiety projection can and does occur - in myth, in music, in fiction, and in the doctor's office too. That doesn't make it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/anxiety-projection-can-and-does-occur-in-myth-in-music-in-fiction-and/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [To design things means to interfere with things: to think of how they might be and to alter how they are. Design is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/to-design-things-means-to-interfere-with-things-to-think-of-how-they/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [By all means break the rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/by-all-means-break-the-rules/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Poetry, I'm often told, is something made of words. I think it really goes the other way around: words are made of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/poetry-i-m-often-told-is-something-made-of-words-i-think-it-really/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Typography is to literature as musical performance is to composition: an essential act of interpretation, full of endless opportunities for insight or obtuseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/typography-is-to-literature-as-musical-performance-is-to-composition/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately and well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/by-all-means-break-the-rules-and-break-them-beautifully-deliberately/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Many intellectual heroes in the European tradition seem to find the great outdoors a chilling prospect - and its literary analogue, the mythworld, equally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/many-intellectual-heroes-in-the-european-tradition-seem-to-find-the/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Typography exists to honor content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/typography-exists-to-honor-content/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Nature, or the world, or reality, is what mythology is all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/nature-or-the-world-or-reality-is-what-mythology-is-all-about/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Essay on Adam" There are five possibilities. One: Adam fell. Two: he was pushed. Three: he jumped. Four: he only looked over the edge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/essay-on-adam-there-are-five-possibilities-one-adam-fell-two-he-was/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Wings are a constraint that makes it possible to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/wings-are-a-constraint-that-makes-it-possible-to-fly/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [In a world rife with unsolicited messages, typography must often draw attention to itself before it will be read. Yet in order to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/in-a-world-rife-with-unsolicited-messages-typography-must-often-draw/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) [Explore all 41 Robert Bringhurst quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) ## More Careless quotes > [We Americans tend to be a prodigal lot. We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [“The rich eat life, the poor eat death; so what is the problem they ask?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/the-rich-eat-life-the-poor-eat-death-so-what-is-the-problem-they-ask/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [the greater part of the suffering in the world is caused not by wicked intents and hard hearts, but by the careless desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marah-ellis-ryan/the-greater-part-of-the-suffering-in-the-world-is-caused-not-by/) [Marah Ellis Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marah-ellis-ryan/) > [It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-is-the-habit-of-mankind-to-entrust-to-careless-hope-what-they-long/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/and-hast-thou-sworn-on-every-slight-pretence-till-perjuries-are/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached...let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/sunday-morning-before-we-go-to-hear-the-word-of-god-preached-let-us/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Being carefree, you can fit in anywhere. If you’re not carefree you keep on bumping up against things. Your life becomes so narrow, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsoknyi-rinpoche/being-carefree-you-can-fit-in-anywhere-if-you-re-not-carefree-you/) [Tsoknyi Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsoknyi-rinpoche/) > [The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-paradox-of-courage-is-that-a-man-must-be-a-little-careless-of-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Phaedra shook her head. “If your people mean no offense, they should not speak their thoughts out loud in front of their children, Tesadora.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-shook-her-head-if-your-people-mean-no-offense-they-should-not/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. I am tempted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/galvanized-people-can-do-careless-things-it-is-in-the-extreme-and/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [You don't have to give way to careless speech or complaining. You don't have to let your feelings get in the way of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/you-don-t-have-to-give-way-to-careless-speech-or-complaining-you-don/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Take good care of the things you have. Careless people spend more for a given standard of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/take-good-care-of-the-things-you-have-careless-people-spend-more-for/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [A lot of white men in the music industry are promoting and participating in black culture in a way that is pretty careless. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelela/a-lot-of-white-men-in-the-music-industry-are-promoting-and/) [Kelela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelela/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) Browse all 450 Careless quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the routine.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bringhurst" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-food-it-is-better-to-have-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Careless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-food-it-is-better-to-have-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/robert-bringhurst-16008_careless_with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-f_1517327.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little of the best than to be swamped…” — Robert Bringhurst", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Bringhurst", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "With type as with philosophy, music...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-food-it-is-better-to-have-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/with-type-as-with-philosophy-music-and-food-it-is-better-to-have-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```