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.
I came across this quote in a book I am reading called Making Home, by Sharon Astyk. I don't love Heinlein's personality or politics, well, maybe I like the libertarian in him, but it ends there, but I do love this quote. Truly, we are not insects. We're not even distant descendants or 153th cousins of them in the elaborate Tree of Life. We're distinct in the grid of creation, made in the image of God and capable of this exhaustive list of "shoulds".