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The worldview of the classical sciences conceptualized nature as a giant machine composed of intricate but replaceable machine-like parts. The new systems sciences look at nature as an organism endowed with irreplaceable elements and an innate but non-deterministic purpose for choice, for flow, for spontaneity.

— Ervin László The systems view of the world (1996)

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More quotes by Ervin László

We are living in a time of dissent, upheaval, revolutions and struggle, frequently aimed at mutual destruction.

Systems at each level of integration function as wholes with respect to their parts and parts with respect to higher level wholes.

Introduction to Systems Philosophy (1972)

Cultures are, in the final analysis, value-guided systems.

The systems view of the world (1996)

Opposed to atomism and behaviorism, the systems view of man links him again with the world he lives in, for he is seen as emerging in that world and reflecting its general character.

Introduction to Systems Philosophy (1972)

Each system has a speciﬁc structure made up of certain maintained relationships among its parts, and manifests irreducible characteristics of its own.

Introduction to Systems Philosophy (1972)

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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.

Henri Poincaré Science and Hypothesis (1901)

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