Robert Heinlein on specialization:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

(Personal note: be careful who you use that quote around.)

More quotes: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein

Worthwhile interpretations of that quote:

- "Learning a wide range of skills is useful and can let you combine them in ways others cannot."

- "You should not let your current path in life unduly limit your curiosity."

- "Sometimes life throws a curveball at you and a wide range of skills can unexpectedly be very handy."

- "There is a small subset of this list which, as an adult, you really should know how to do."

Unhealthy interpretations of that quote:

- "You are as unworthy as an insect if you specialise."

- "Time spent on one thing does not come at the cost of time spent on other things. You can manufacture time."

- "Developing a deeper understanding of a craft you're deeply curious about is not worth the time you give up learning other things."

- "A person who knows how to do all of this list of things competently has ever existed in human history."

(I assert that any person who has competently planned an invasion and died gallantly in the age where they had access to program a computer would be listed on wikipedia.)

(Also, if people didn't sometimes need specialised knowledge to make competent decisions, then central economic planning would have a hope of working.)

Now I'm curious about the story behind the personal note.

Heinlein is often associated with libertarianism. This quote in particular.

Yeah, that one on polymathy, is my all-time favorite!

Note to self: still need to learn to write a sonnet.

This philosophy has some merit.

I would add this, attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

yeah, it resembles the "happiness is a choice" motto used and repeated by many. I would say that it isn't always the case

Agreed. Sometimes, it is exceedingly difficult to step outside your immediate emotional state to make rational decisions.

As a retired EMT, I have spent a lot of time helping people in extreme situations to elevate their consciousness above the immediate flood of input. I was not always successful, but the capability of the human brain to filter input is rather astounding.

It is almost always the case, at least in some point of everyone's life. In a lifetime, every human being can find happiness and joy in life.

I don't agree to this one tip.You can choose to be happy or be miserable.

Pursuit of happiness is wrong anyway in my eyes. It should be pursuit of fulfillment, this leads to a person living in the 'happy' state.

Well said. One can choose to be happy or to be miserable, and it's a skill that you can develop through the time. But i don't think pursuit of happiness is wrong. Happiness deters boredom after all.