--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A species in which everyone was General…" description: "\"“A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent van Gogh. I prefer to think..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg" --- # A species in which everyone was General Patton would not… ![“A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent van Gogh. I prefer to think that the planet needs athletes, philosophers, sex symbols, painters, scientists; it needs the warmhearted, the hardhearted, the coldhearted, and…” quote by Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg) > ““A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent van Gogh. I prefer to think that the planet needs athletes, philosophers, sex symbols, painters, scientists; it needs the warmhearted, the hardhearted, the coldhearted, and the weakhearted. It needs those who can devote their lives to studying how many droplets of water are secreted by the salivary glands of dogs under which circumstances, and it needs those who can capture the passing impression of cherry blossoms in a fourteen-syllable poem or devote twenty-five pages to the dissection of a small boy’s feelings as he lies in bed in the dark waiting for his mother to kiss him goodnight.… Indeed the presence of outstanding strengths presupposes that energy needed in other areas has been channeled away from them. —ALLEN SHAWN”” [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Diversity of talents and personalities is essential for societal success; no single archetype can fulfill all roles. **In simple terms:** Varied strengths are needed for a thriving society. Key Takeaway Embrace and nurture different abilities. Themes diversity talent society balance individuality Mood reflective optimistic Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - team building - education policy - career counseling - creative collaborations Key Concepts psychology social dynamics human potential Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions reward both specialists and generalists? - What roles do introverts play in innovation? A Different Perspective Specialists may be undervalued in favor of generalists. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cherry blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherry-blossom/) [Cherry blossoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherry-blossoms/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [General Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/general-patton/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent van Gogh.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-shawn/a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general-patton-would-not-succeed-any/) Allen Shawn > [“I don't do martial arts for trophies or for fun. I'm a fighter, and I train to win any fight I'm in. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-maberry/i-don-t-do-martial-arts-for-trophies-or-for-fun-i-m-a-fighter-and-i/) [Jonathan Maberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-maberry/) > [“The Luxembourgers who survived Buchenwald have not forgotten. Every year since 1945, they meet at 11:30 A.M. on April 11 at the American Military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dolibois/the-luxembourgers-who-survived-buchenwald-have-not-forgotten-every/) John Dolibois > [“General Patton, upon seeing the Roman ruins at Agrigento, remarked to a local expert, “Seventh Army didn’t cause that destruction, did it, sir?” The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-edsel/general-patton-upon-seeing-the-roman-ruins-at-agrigento-remarked-to-a/) [Robert M. Edsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-edsel/) > [“war ferrying troops to Italy for General Patton. His talent as a machinist and fireman earned him commendations, but he occasionally found himself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/war-ferrying-troops-to-italy-for-general-patton-his-talent-as-a/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [My mother was a Jewish General Patton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/my-mother-was-a-jewish-general-patton/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [“Bridezellia was like General Patton she had an Operations Room, HQ established in her sitting room. Wall charts, to do lists, pictures, contact lists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-j-dunlea/bridezellia-was-like-general-patton-she-had-an-operations-room-hq/) [Annette J Dunlea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annette-j-dunlea/) > [“The soul was not made to run on empty. But the soul doesn’t come with a gauge. The indicators of soul-fatigue are more subtle:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/the-soul-was-not-made-to-run-on-empty-but-the-soul-doesn-t-come-with/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [If you look at ISIS, General MacArthur, and General Patton, they're spinning in their graves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/if-you-look-at-isis-general-macarthur-and-general-patton-they-re/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Anybody who tells you that a two-day conference, you're going to turn into the General Patton of leadership, they're not telling you the truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocko-willink/anybody-who-tells-you-that-a-two-day-conference-you-re-going-to-turn/) [Jocko Willink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocko-willink/) > [For Black Label Special Opps, adversity is what you thrive on. General Patton is a huge fan favorite in Black Label.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakk-wylde/for-black-label-special-opps-adversity-is-what-you-thrive-on-general/) [Zakk Wylde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakk-wylde/) ## More by Susan Cain > [“Proverbs from the East: The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/proverbs-from-the-east-the-wind-howls-but-the-mountain-remains-still/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“where we fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. Our place on this continuum influences our choice of friends and mates, and how we make conversation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/where-we-fall-on-the-introvert-extrovert-spectrum-our-place-on-this/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“I worry that there are people who are put in positions of authority because they’re good talkers, but they don’t have good ideas,” he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/i-worry-that-there-are-people-who-are-put-in-positions-of-authority/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“He believes, as most of us do, that venting anger lets off steam. The “catharsis hypothesis”—that aggression builds up inside us until it’s healthily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/he-believes-as-most-of-us-do-that-venting-anger-lets-off-steam-the/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“Soft power is not limited to moral exemplars like Mahatma Gandhi. Consider, for example, the much-ballyhooed excellence of Asians in fields like math and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/soft-power-is-not-limited-to-moral-exemplars-like-mahatma-gandhi/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“Events like this don't give me the sense of oneness others seem to enjoy; it's always been private occasions that make me feel connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/events-like-this-don-t-give-me-the-sense-of-oneness-others-seem-to/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“Social anxiety disorder”—which essentially means pathological shyness—is now thought to afflict nearly one in five of us. The most recent version of the Diagnostic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/social-anxiety-disorder-which-essentially-means-pathological-shyness/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“Potential clients would walk out of Charlie’s office scared”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/potential-clients-would-walk-out-of-charlie-s-office-scared/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“So when introverts assume the observer role, as when they write novels, or contemplate unified field theory- or fall quiet at dinner parties- they’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/so-when-introverts-assume-the-observer-role-as-when-they-write-novels/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“Osborn’s theory had great impact, and company leaders took up brainstorming with enthusiasm. To this day, it’s common for anyone who spends time in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/osborn-s-theory-had-great-impact-and-company-leaders-took-up/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we've turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/extroversion-is-an-enormously-appealing-personality-style-but-we-ve/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“But as the word satyagraha implies, Gandhi’s passivity was not weakness at all. It meant focusing on an ultimate goal and refusing to divert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/but-as-the-word-satyagraha-implies-gandhi-s-passivity-was-not/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“The Extrovert Ideal has been documented in many studies, though this research has never been grouped under a single name. Talkative people, for example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/the-extrovert-ideal-has-been-documented-in-many-studies-though-this/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“introverts prefer to work independently, and solitude can be a catalyst to innovation. As the influential psychologist Hans Eysenck once observed, introversion “concentrates the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/introverts-prefer-to-work-independently-and-solitude-can-be-a/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [ “People who tend to \[suppress their negative emotions\] regularly,” concludes Grob, “might start to see the world in a more negative light.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/people-who-tend-to-suppress-their-negative-emotions-regularly/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) [Explore all 428 Susan Cain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) ## More Cherry blossom quotes > [“I start to run, and my nose fills with the smell of rain and wet earth. I run along the shoulder of the highway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-harrison/i-start-to-run-and-my-nose-fills-with-the-smell-of-rain-and-wet-earth/) Jon Harrison > [“So he raced from dogwood to blossoming peach. When they thinned out he headed for the cherry blossoms, then magnolia, chinaberry, pecan, walnut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/so-he-raced-from-dogwood-to-blossoming-peach-when-they-thinned-out-he/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Let us find inner freedom in each lucky moment that we encounter, like a sun-basking butterfly that finds peace on a cherry blossom petal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-find-inner-freedom-in-each-lucky-moment-that-we-encounter-like/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“However wildly this year's cherry blossoms bloom, I'll see them with the plum's scent filling my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ono-no-komachi/however-wildly-this-year-s-cherry-blossoms-bloom-i-ll-see-them-with/) Ono no Komachi > [“we are holding hands in the barrel of a gun. they pull the trigger, but when she is kissing me only cherry blossoms come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/topaz-winters/we-are-holding-hands-in-the-barrel-of-a-gun-they-pull-the-trigger-but/) Topaz Winters > [“Lord Karasumaru considered it a grave mistake on the part of the gods to have made a man like himself a nobleman. And, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eiji-yoshikawa/lord-karasumaru-considered-it-a-grave-mistake-on-the-part-of-the-gods/) [Eiji Yoshikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eiji-yoshikawa/) > [Koishikawa Korakuen Garden - one of Tokyo's oldest Japanese gardens, and one of the best spots for viewing the cherry blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marino/koishikawa-korakuen-garden-one-of-tokyo-s-oldest-japanese-gardens-and/) [Peter Marino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marino/) > [“A teahouse amid the cherry blossoms, on the way to death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-teahouse-amid-the-cherry-blossoms-on-the-way-to-death/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“he said this turning his strong body to face the beautiful, stunning, breathtaking, astonishing, bewildering girl who was a princess and his one true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-ashton/he-said-this-turning-his-strong-body-to-face-the-beautiful-stunning/) J.K. Ashton > [Look at the cherry blossoms! Their color and scent fall with them, Are gone forever, Yet mindless The spring comes again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ikkyu/look-at-the-cherry-blossoms-their-color-and-scent-fall-with-them-are/) [Ikkyu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ikkyu/) > [I often stay in Tokyo's Daikanyama neighbourhood. You can go for a peaceful morning run along the Meguro river, and it is particularly incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-gebbia/i-often-stay-in-tokyo-s-daikanyama-neighbourhood-you-can-go-for-a/) [Joe Gebbia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-gebbia/) > [Outside it's a perfect spring night. We stand on the sidewalk in front of our apartment building, and Henry takes my hand, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/outside-it-s-a-perfect-spring-night-we-stand-on-the-sidewalk-in-front/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/loveliest-of-trees-the-cherry-now-is-hung-with-bloom-along-the-bough/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [If I were asked to explain the Japanese spirit, I would say it is wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/motoori-norinaga/if-i-were-asked-to-explain-the-japanese-spirit-i-would-say-it-is-wild/) Motoori Norinaga > [ The first time I saw a fingerbowl was at the home of my benefactress. \[...\] The water had a few cherry blossoms in it,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-first-time-i-saw-a-fingerbowl-was-at-the-home-of-my-benefactress/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Browse all 92 Cherry blossom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherry-blossom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent van Gogh. I prefer to think that the planet needs athletes, philosophers, sex symbols, painters, scientists; it needs the warmhearted, the hardhearted, the coldhearted, and the weakhearted. It needs those who can devote their lives to studying how many droplets of water are secreted by the salivary glands of dogs under which circumstances, and it needs those who can capture the passing impression of cherry blossoms in a fourteen-syllable poem or devote twenty-five pages to the dissection of a small boy’s feelings as he lies in bed in the dark waiting for his mother to kiss him goodnight.… Indeed the presence of outstanding strengths presupposes that energy needed in other areas has been channeled away from them. —ALLEN SHAWN”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Cain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general-patton-would-not-succeed-any-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cherry blossom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general-patton-would-not-succeed-any-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a93/susan-cain-647_cherry-blossom_a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general_2615822.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which…” — Susan Cain", "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": "Susan Cain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A species in which everyone was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general-patton-would-not-succeed-any-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/a-species-in-which-everyone-was-general-patton-would-not-succeed-any-2/#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 } } ] } ```