In keeping with the spirit of the postmodern, the author suggests that psychoanalysts should be wary of subscribing to a set of rules and/or a proper method for the conduct of psychoanalysis. He puts forward instead the suggestion that some patients do well with certain rules and not with others, and offers a brief report concerning a group of patients who were unable to 'live by the rules' to support such a viewpoint. He suggests that a corollary of this perspective is one that links the analyst's own capacity to live within or outside of rules to his or her effectiveness with these particular patients. From this unique illustrative group, the general conclusion is offered that only the singular goal of understanding in depth is the proper guiding rule of psychoanalysis.