Thoughts
from Buckminster Fuller
The
late R. Buckminster Fuller (1895- 1983) was an inventor, architect,
engineer, mathematician, poet, and cosmologist. Mr. Fuller
was awarded 25 U.S. patents;
|
"Buckminster
Fuller's philosophy was that we should all be doing
what we are in a unique position to do and what needs
to be done. We shouldn't be doing things just to make
money. There are principles in the universe that support
us in doing what we are uniquely talented and inspired
to do. That's part of the design of the universe.
Buckminster Fuller gave up trying to make money in
order to make sense."
-Deborah
Grace, communications coordinator at the Buckminster
Fuller Institute |
authored 28 books; and received
47 honorary doctorates in the arts, science, engineering,
and the humanities, as well as dozens of major architectural
and design awards, including the Gold Medal of the American
Institute of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute
of British Architects. He circled the globe 57 times, reaching
millions through his public lectures and interviews.
Henry Ford, Sr., was inspired to mass-produce
no-frills, reliable motor vehicles for the lowest possible
prices, primarily to help the farmer get to market. That
his activity involved large amounts of money was only incidental.
It was obvious to Ford that a prudent amount of earnings
must be set aside to buy ever-improving equipment. Also,
he determined that a safety-factor surplus be set aside
against poor economic days. Ford's enterprise was never
to make money. At enormous expense,
he bought
back all the shares in his Ford Motor Company from his original
backers, whom he found were primarily interested in making
money. Henry, Sr., fought J. P. Morgan for many years as to
which it should be, 'make sense or make money,' which are
mutually exclusive.
Ford's
son and grandson failed to understand old Henry's inspirational
philosophy of real-wealth producing and learned to play
only the game of moneymaking with the money they inherited.
-Excerpted
and adapted from "Everything I Know," by R. Buckminster
Fuller, Buckminster Fuller Institute, 1997.
Full text available online at the
Buckminster
Fuller Institute
website. ŠThe Estate of R. Buckminster
Fuller.
For
further information, visit the Buckminster Fuller Institute
website at
www.bfi.org
.
© 1990-2005, More Than Money, All rights reserved