Rules are specific. Principles are structural.
A rule says don’t lie to clients. A principle says operate with integrity. The rule gets tested the moment a lie seems harmless. The principle doesn’t bend because it doesn’t specify, it orients.
This distinction matters more than people think. Rules invite edge cases. Every rule creates a boundary, and boundaries invite the question: what happens just outside it? Lawyers, accountants, and regulators spend careers in that gap.
Principles don’t have edges. You can’t find the loophole in “act as if your decisions were public.” The principle applies before the edge case arrives.
A few principles, held seriously, outrun a loose rulebook.