A principle is a general truth that is correctly integrated within the full context of one's knowledge. Human beings can grasp the enormous complexity of the real world only by organizing it into principles. Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation, for instance, is a condensation of innumerable observations, both astronomical and terrestrial. Although previous scientists had developed mathematical models for the observed phenomena, their bewildering complications made them difficult to grasp. Newton succeeded in reducing the complexity to a comprehensible formula. Without principles, we would be severely handicapped in our attempts to understand and deal with reality.

Thinking in principles is a natural skill, not just among "intellectuals," but among human beings in general. For many, clichés serve as a primitive form of principles. Because they are passed down without their basis being fully understood, their truth or falsehood is seldom examined properly. Nevertheless, they seek to encapsulate general truths, often concretizing them by reference to the tangible (e. g., "a bird in the hand..."). They thus serve—if somewhat lamely—much the same function as principles in the mind of a less concrete-bound person. Clichés provide evidence that the ability to think in principles is virtually universal and only needs to be developed by training.     

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