“The world is a complex, interconnected, finite, ecological-social-psychological-economic system. We treat it as if it were not, as if it were divisible, separable, simple, and infinite. Our persistent, intractable global problems arise directly from this mismatch.”— Donella Meadows
“All the organs of an animal form a single system, the parts of which hang together, and act and re-act upon one another; and no modifications can appear in one part without bringing about corresponding modifications in all the rest.”— Georges Cuvier
“There are no separate systems. The world is a continuum. Where to draw a boundary around a system depends on the purpose of the discussion.”— Donella Meadows
“Reality cannot be found except in One single source, because of the interconnection of all things with one another.”— Gottfried Leibniz
“Life is a planetary-scale phenomenon. There is not a single organism that is not connected to every other organism.”— James Lovelock
“We are all caught in a great web of social relationships, and we are all influenced by the culture in which we live.”— Robert Staughton Lynd