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The purpose of this book is to discuss and present evidence for the general thesis that the flow of energy through a system acts to organize that system.

— Harold J. Morowitz Energy Flow in Biology: Biological Organization as a Problem in Thermal Physics (1968)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Italics are in the original. Later quoted on the inside front cover of The Last Whole Earth Catalog.

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More quotes by Harold J. Morowitz

At the chemical level, human beings just aren’t all that different from pumpkins or any other life forms.

The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy (1992)

All forms of life are related to each other, and the basic mechanisms that drive all of them are the same.

The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy (1992)

This type of answer is profoundly unsatisfying, but it’s about all you can expect if you ask the wrong question.

The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy (1992)

The fact that both you and the amoeba use these universal molecules in your energy metabolism is as striking an example of the relatedness of life as can be found.

The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy (1992)

It is clearly in the best interests of everyone involved that these decisions be made with a maximum of compassion, a minimum of bureaucratic intervention, and the absence of attorneys.

The Facts of Life: Science and the Abortion Controversy (1992)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

Albert Pike Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871)

There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

Attribution

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