Only by strict specialization can the scientific worker become fully conscious, for once and perhaps never again in his lifetime, that he has achieved something that will endure. A really definitive and good accomplishment is today always a specialized act.
—Max Weber (1864–1920) German Sociologist
A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.
—Alistair Cooke (1908–2004) British-American Journalist, Broadcaster
A specialist is someone who does everything else worse.
—Ruggiero Ricci (1918–2012) American Violinist
An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.
—Niels Bohr (1885–1962) Danish Physicist
It is surely a matter of common observation that a man who knows no one thing intimately has no views worth hearing on things in general. The farmer philosophizes in terms of crops, soils, markets, and implements, the mechanic generalizes his experiences of wood and iron, the seaman reaches similar conclusions by his own special road; and if the scholar keeps pace with these it must be by an equally virile productivity.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Expert: One who limits himself to his chosen mode of ignorance.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher