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Progress is only possible by passing from a state of undifferentiated wholeness to differentiation of parts.

— Ludwig von Bertalanffy General System Theory (1968)

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More quotes by Ludwig von Bertalanffy

What in the whole denotes a causal equilibrium process, appears for the part as a teleological event.

Wholeness [Ganzheit], Gestalt, is the primary attribute of life.

Kritische Theorie der Formbildung (1928)

The stream of life is maintained only in continuous flow of matter through all groups of organisms.

Apparently, the isomorphisms of laws rest in our cognition on the one hand, and in reality on the other.

General System Theory (1968)

We completely agree that description by differential equations is not only a clumsy but, in principle, inadequate way to deal with many problems of organization.

General System Theory (1968)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ludwig von Bertalanffy (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.