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System
A System (from Latin systema, in turn from Greek σύστημα)
is a set of interacting or interdependent entities forming an
integrated whole. The scientific research field which is engaged
in the study of the general properties of systems include
systems theory, cybernetics, dynamical systems and complex
systems.

Quotes
All quotes are arranged in chronological order

17th century They constantly try to escape

From the darkness outside and
The sun, as we have already said, is placed in the middle within
of our system, as a source of light and heat, to illuminate By dreaming of systems so perfect
and vivify all the planets subordinate to it. Without his that no one will need to be good. ~
benign influence the earth would be a mere block, which in T. S. Eliot
hardness would surpass marble and the most compact
substances with which we are acquainted ; no vegetation,
no motion would be possible: in a word, it would be the
abode of darkness, inactivity and death. The first rank
therefore among inanimate beings cannot be refused to the
sun ; and if the error of addressing to a created object that
adoration which is due to the Creator atone could admit of
excuse, we might be tempted to excuse the homage paid to
the sun by the ancient Persians, as is still the ease among
the Guebres, their successors, and some savage tribes in
America.
Jacques Ozanam (1640-1717) Recreations in
mathematics and natural philosophy : Volume 3 van
Recreations in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.
Published 1803. p. 140.

Systems... resemble the similar parts or muscles of a body

natural. By systemes; I understand any numbers of men No system would have ever been
joyned in one Interest, or one Businesse. Of which, framed if people had been simply
some are Regular, and some Irregular. Regular are those, interested in knowing what is true,
where one Man, or Assembly of men, is constituted whatever it may be. What produces
Representative of the whole number. All other are Irregular. systems is the interest in
Of Systemes subordinate, some are Politicall, and some maintaining against all comers that
Private. Politicall (otherwise Called Bodies Politique, and some favourite or inherited idea of
Persons In Law,) are those, which are made by authority ours is sufficient and right. ~ George
from the Soveraign Power of the Common-wealth. Private, Santayana
are those, which are constituted by Subjects amongst
themselves, or by authoritie from a stranger. For no
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authority derived from forraign power, within the Dominion

of another, is Publique there, but Private.
And of Private Systemes, some are Lawfull; some
Unlawfull: Lawfull, are those which are allowed by the
Common-wealth: all other are Unlawfull. Irregular
Systemes, are those which having no Representative,
consist only in concourse of People; which if not forbidden
by the Common-wealth, nor made on evill designe, (such
as are conflux of People to markets, or shews, or any other
harmelesse end,) are Lawfull. But when the Intention is
evill, or (if the number be considerable) unknown, they are
Unlawfull.
... And this is all I shall say concerning Systemes, and
Assemblyes of People, which may be compared (as I said,)
to the Similar parts of mans Body; such as be Lawfull, to
the Muscles; such as are Unlawfull, to Wens, Biles, and
Apostemes, engendred by the unnaturall conflux of evill
humours.
Societies grow into systems. The
Thomas Hobbes (1651), Chapter 22: "Of systemes
systems require management and
subject, politicall, and private" in Leviathan
are therefore increasingly wielded,
According to the common system, before the creation of like a tool or a weapon, by those
Matter, there was nothing but God, whose essence is who have power. The rest of the
immutable, and cannot be the pre-existent subject of population is still needed to do
Bodies. specific things. But the citizens are
not needed to contribute to the form
J. de la Crose (1693). Memoirs for the ingenious. p. 81. or direction of the society. The more
"advanced" the civilization, the more
irrelevant the citizen becomes. ~
18th century John Ralston Saul

In proportion, therefore, as a system is of vast extent and

made for duration, the more it requires to be governed by a
simple and general law. We have only to attend to the solar
system, and we shall perceive the utility of a central body
on which the whole depends. In virtue of this body, it rarely
happens that the planets and comets disturb each other,
and these extraordinary instances form but trifling
exceptions. But were we to retrench the central body, the
general law would be destroyed, and the exceptions alone
would remain. Harmony, in that case, must be the result of
an infinite combination, of individual and discordant
impulsions; insomuch, that the more our view of the whole
became comprehensive, the more we should find the
system, instead of tending to simplicity, confused and
perplexed.
Systems ... resemble the similar
Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728 to 1777). The system of parts or muscles of a body natural.
the world. p. 128. (Translated from the French by By systemes; I understand any
James Jacque) numbers of men joyned in one
Interest, or one Businesse. ~
The different progress of opulence in different ages and Thomas Hobbes
nations, has given occasion to two different systems of
political economy, with regard to enriching the people. The
one may be called the system of commerce, the other that of agriculture. I shall endeavour to
explain both as fully and distinctly as I can, and shall begin with the system of commerce. It is
the modern system, and is best understood in our own country and in our own times.

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Adam Smith (1771). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by
Adam Smith. (The Project Gutenberg EBook)
Adam Smith (1795). Essays on philosophical subjects. p. 60.

Some writers have exclaimed bitterly against systems of divinity,

others have exaggerated the utility of them. Perhaps the truth may
be, neither side has taken sufficient pains to understand the other.
Theology reduced to a system is nothing more than a regular
arrangement of what we hold for religion, and there can be no
damage done by such orderly dispositions of truths : on the
contrary, much benefit arises to a student of divinity by them, for a
system is as advantageous to a minister, as a regular set of books
to a merchant.
Jean Claude (1782). An essay on the composition of a sermon.
p. 396.

By the term architectonic I mean the art of constructing a system. A system is of vast extent
Without systematic unity, our knowledge cannot become science; and made for duration, the
it will be an aggregate, and not a system. Thus architectonic is the more it requires to be
doctrine of the scientific in cognition, and therefore necessarily governed by a simple and
forms part of our methodology. general law.
Reason cannot permit our knowledge to remain in an unconnected - J.H. Lambert (1728 –
and rhapsodistic state, but requires that the sum of our cognitions 1777)
should constitute a system. It is thus alone that they can advance
the ends of reason. By a system I mean the unity of various
cognitions under one idea. This idea is the conception--given by
reason--of the form of a whole, in so far as the conception
determines a priori not only the limits of its content, but the place
which each of its parts is to occupy. The scientific idea contains,
therefore, the end and the form of the whole which is in
accordance with that end. The unity of the end, to which all the
parts of the system relate, and through which all have a relation to
each other, communicates unity to the whole system, so that the
absence of any part can be immediately detected from our
knowledge of the rest; and it determines a priori the limits of the
system, thus excluding all contingent or arbitrary additions. The
whole is thus an organism (articulatio), and not an aggregate By a system I mean the
(coacervatio); it may grow from within (per intussusceptionem), but unity of various cognitions
it cannot increase by external additions (per appositionem). It is, under one idea.
thus, like an animal body, the growth of which does not add any - Immanuel Kant (1787).
limb, but, without changing their proportions, makes each in its
sphere stronger and more active.
We require, for the execution of the idea of a system, a schema, that is, a content and an
arrangement of parts determined a priori by the principle which the aim of the system
prescribes.
Immanuel Kant (1787). The Critique of Pure Reason.

Systems seem, like certain worms, to be formed by a kind of generatio aequivoca--by the mere
confluence of conceptions, and to gain completeness only with the progress of time.
Immanuel Kant (1787). The Critique of Pure Reason.

When Newton first discovered the property of attraction, and settled its laws, he found it served
very well to explain several of the most remarkable phenomena in nature ; but yet with
reference to the general system of things, he could consider attraction but as an effect, whose
cause at that time he did not attempt to trace. But when "he afterwards began to account for it
by a subtile elastic æther, this great man (if in so great a man it be not impious to discover any
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thing like a blemish) seemed to have quitted his usual cautious

manner of philosophising; since, perhaps, allowing all that has
been advanced on this subject to be sufficiently proved, I think it
leaves us with as many difficulties as it found us. That great chain
of causes, which links one to another, even to the throne of God
himself, can never be unravelled by any industry of ours. When we
go but one step beyond the immediately sensible qualities of
things, we go out of our depth.
Edmund Burke (1792). Works, Volume 1. p. 198.

Systems in many respects resemble machines. A machine is a

little system, created to perform, as well as to connect together, in
reality, those different movements and effects which the artist has
occasion for. A system is an imaginary machine invented to
connect together in the fancy those different movements and A system is an imaginary
effects which are already in reality performed... The machines that
machine invented to
are first invented to perform any particular movement are always connect together in the
the most complex, and succeeding artists generally discover that,
fancy those different
with fewer wheels, with fewer principles of motion, than had
movements and effects
originally been employed, the fame effects may be more easily
which are already in reality
produced. The first systems, in the fame manner, are always the
performed.
most complex, and a particular connecting chain, or principle, is
generally thought necessary to unite every two seemingly - Adam Smith (1795).
disjointed appearances : but it often happens, that one great
connecting principle is afterwards found to be sufficient to bind
together all the discordant phænomena that occur in a whole species of things.
Formidable as the idea of a system of divinity may appear to young people, it is very certain
that, if they are to study religion at all as a science, it cannot be studied to any good purpose,
otherwise than systematically. A system is a methodical arrangement of propositions and
proofs; and without such arrangement, no distinct and certain knowlege of any subject can be
obtained. The thing to be desired in instruction is not to lay aside systems, but to simplify them.
Systems (or bodies) of divinity, particularly, have been encumbered with a vast mass of
heterogeneous matter, which even the divine by profession has not been able to digest. It is
very evident that such systems are not proper even for the higher seminaries of learning, much
less for common schools.
J. G. Burckhardt (1797). "A System of Divinity, for the Use of Schools, and for instructing
Youth in the essential Principles and Duties of Religion". In: The Monthly review by Ralph
Griffiths & George Edward Griffiths, 1797.

The universe is composed of matter, and, as a system, is sustained by motion. Motion is not a
property of matter, and without this motion the solar system could not exist. Were motion a
property of matter, that undiscovered and undiscoverable thing, called perpetual motion, would
establish itself. It is because motion is not a property of matter, that perpetual motion is an
impossibility in the hand of every being, bat that of the Creator of motion. When the pretenders
to Atheism can produce perpetual motion, and not till then, they may expect to be credited.
Thomas Paine (1798) "A Discourte delivered by Thomas Paine, at the Society of the
Theophilanthropists at Paris, 1798". In: The Monthly review, or, Literary journal, Volume 30.
by Ralph Griffiths, G. E. Griffiths, 1798.

19th century
M. Fries, who is the founder of the system of quaternary arrangement, and the authority to
which the most philosophical of our writers upon the subject has so repeatedly referred. These
opinions [which will follow below] are contained in the Introduction to a work published by M.
Fries in 1825, under the name of Systema Orbis Vegetabilis, and may be said to exhibit the
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most condensed and well-arranged statement of the theory which

has yet appeared...
§ 1. Nature is an universal complication of phenomena existing
and acting in all places and at all times—an infinite power made
manifest by the successive evolution of a finite power, the sum of
the whole creation in a continuous state— all existent matter
proceeding from perfection and pregnant with futurity...
§ 2. Nature must be considered as either perfect or approaching
perfection
§ 3. The powers and the productions of nature are coexistent . All
power is as it were a law under which a given production holds its
existence, but in such a manner that all power is the finite
revelation of an infinite law. To act and to exist is the same thing.
Power therefore is nature without production ; Production is matter
without power. Neither exists in nature by itself.
All things which exist in
§ 4. All the powers of nature are more or less perfect
manifestations of one primitive power, which acts by its different nature are a whole, and at
productions according to the same eternal, immutable, absolute the same time a part of a
laws. But the powers of nature act only by mutual reaction ; so that larger whole.
each power of nature becomes in its products impeded, - Elias Magnus Fries, 1825
interrupted, or quiescent.
§ 5, All things which exist in nature are a whole, and at the same
time a part of a larger whole. They are capable of being
themselves resolved into other wholes until the human mind sinks
under ideas of sublimity and subtilty which are imperceptible to it,
—of the universe and of atoms.
§ 6. It is impossible for the human mind, itself a finite creation, to
regard nature, whether her powers or her productions are
considered, in the light of the whole manifestation of an infinite
power, but only as parts or fragments of such manifestation. But to
comprehend these as one whole, that is, as an eternal and
immutable yet ever varying body, or, as innumerable forms of one
highest whole, is the end. of all disquisition, the sum of which we
call a System.
§ 7. A system contains within itself the seeds of some more
complete evolution, but it does not admit of arbitrary alterations. A system is a set of objects
Not that any absolute system can ever be contrived; for I am by no compromising all that
means of the opinion of those who expect that a system is to be as stands to one another in a
unchangeable as if it were petrified. group of connected
§ 8. If nature be closely pursued, a system is called Natural; if this relations
Ariadnean thread be not followed, it is called Artificial or factitious. - Charles Sanders Peirce, ±
§ 9. A system of nature proceeding from subjects of the most 1880
simple organization to such as are more perfect, or from the
circumference to the centre, is called a Mathematical System.
§ 10. A system of nature which takes for the basis of its arrangement the order of development
of individuals is called Physiological.
§ 11. Philosophical systems do not depend upon individual productions which are subject to
continual variation, but upon eternal and unchangeable ideas. These always proceed from the
centre to the circumference, or from the most perfect productions to those of a lower order.
This is the method of my Mycological system, rfnd it agrees with the mathematical system if the
order be inverted. A Philosophical system depends upon the laws of logic; for the laws of logic
are by no means notions contrived by man, but eternal and immutable, and established by
Nature herself. As the rotation of the heavenly bodies, discovered after the laws of
mathematics, must necessarily follow those laws; so also no observation in nature can
invalidate the laws of logic. For the laws of logic are the laws of nature.
§ 12. A Philosophical system is superior to all others. It may at first appear, perhaps, of little
moment, what way we follow follow in enumerating the productions of nature ; but if one way is
more certain and more facile than another, that is surely to be preferred.
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John Lindley (1826). "Some Account of the Spherical and Numerical System of Nature o/M.
Elias Fries". In: Philosophical magazine: a journal of theoretical, experimental and applied
physics, Volume 68, 31st August 1826.

When a system is brought before the public, professing to be new, and claiming to be
considered as peculiarly useful, it is incumbent on those who introduce it, to show in what
respects it is original, and why it is an improvement.
Emma Willard (1838). A system of universal geography on the principles of comparison and
classification.

In my opinion a system of operations, to be efficient and successful, should be such as to give

to the principal and responsible head of the running department a complete daily history of
details in all their minutiae. Without such supervision, the procurement of a satisfactory annual
statement must be regarded as extremely problematical. The fact that dividends are earned
without such control, does not disprove the position, as in many cases the extraordinarily
remunerative nature of an enterprise may ensure satisfactory returns under the most loose and
inefficient management.
It may be proper here to remark, that in consequence of that want of adaptation before alluded
to, we cannot avail ourselves to any great extent of the plan of organization of shorter lines in
framing one for this, nor have we any precedent or experience upon which we can fully rely in
doing so. Under these circumstances, it will scarcely be expected that we can at once adopt
any plan of operations which will not require amendment and a reasonable time to prove its
worth. A few general principles, however, may be regarded as settled and necessary in its
formation, amongst which are:
1. A proper division of responsibilities.
2. Sufficient power conferred to enable the same to be fully carried out, that such
responsibilities may be real in their character.
3. The means of knowing whether such responsibilities are faithfully executed.
4. Great promptness in the report of all derelictions of duty, that evils may be at once
corrected.
5. Such information, to be obtained through a system of daily reports and checks that will not
embarrass principal officers, nor lessen their influence with their subordinates.
6. The adoption of a system, as a whole, which will not only enable the General
Superintendent to detect errors immediately, but will also point out the delinquent.

Daniel McCallum (1855) "Report of the Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad
to the Stockholders, for the Year Ending September 30 (https://books.google.com/books?id
=4Gc9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA33)" in: Annual Report. New York and Erie Railroad Company,
1856. p. 35-36.

SYSTEM (σύστημα, σύν ἵστημιavu, to place together) — is a full and connected view of all the
truths of some department of knowledge. An organized body of truth, or truths arranged under
one and the same idea, which idea is as the life or soul which assimilates all those truths. No
truth is altogether isolated. Every truth has relation to some other. And we should try to
unite the facts of our knowledge so as to see them in their several bearings. This we do
when we frame them into a system. To do so legitimately we must begin by analysis and
end with synthesis. But system applies not only to our knowledge, but to the objects of our
knowledge. Thus we speak of the planetary system, the muscular system, the nervous system.
We believe that the order to which we would reduce our ideas has a foundation in the nature of
things. And it is this belief that encourages us to reduce our knowledge of things into
systematic order. The doing so is attended with many advantages. At the same time a spirit of
systematizing may be carried too far. It is only in so far as it is in accordance with the order of
nature that it can be useful or sound. Condillac has a Traite des Systemes, in which he traces
their causes and their dangerous consequences.

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William Fleming, Vocabulary of philosophy, mental, moral, and metaphysical; with

quotations and references; for the use of students (https://archive.org/details/vocabularyofp
hil00fle), 1857, p. 503.

Calvin's historical significance lay in this, that to the compact system of ancient dogmatic
doctrine he opposed a new system of religion, far more compact and logical than that of any
other Reformer;
Ludwig Häusser (1873). The period of the reformation, 1517-1648. p. 245.

20th century

First half of the 20th century

1900s
A system is not so important as a method. A system is of significance because it brings order
and clearness into our knowledge, but he who hopes by its help to reach something more, he
who thinks to extend his knowledge by means of a system is self-deceived.
Harald Høffding (1900). A history of modern philosophy: a sketch of the history of
philosophy from the close of the Renaissance to our own day, Volume 2.

If a state should pass laws forbidding its citizens to become wise

and holy, it would be made a byword for all time. But this, in effect,
is what our commercial, social, and political systems do. They
compel the sacrifice of mental and moral power to money and
dissipation.
John Lancaster Spalding, Aphorisms and Reflections (1901),
p. 62

A system is a way of going broke mathematically

John Ames Mitchell (1902). Life p. 552.

Now a system is nothing but a mental connexion applied to a A system is of significance

number of isolated events. because it brings order and
William Smith (1906). The Quarterly review. p. 465. clearness into our
knowledge, but he … who
A system is a whole which is composed of various parts. But it is thinks to extend his
not the same thing as an aggregate or heap. In an aggrete or knowledge by means of a
heap, no essential relation exist between the units of which it is system is self-deceived.
composed. In a heap of grain, or pile of stones, one may take - Harald Høffding, 1900
away part without the other part being at all affected thereby. But
in a system, each part has a fixed and necessary relation to the
whole and to all the other parts. For this reason we may say that a building, or a peace of
mechanisme, is a system. Each stone in the building, each wheel in the watch, plays a part,
and is essential to the whole.
James Edwin Creighton (1909). An introductory logic‎. p. 339-340.

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1910s
In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first. This in no sense,
however, implies that great men are not needed. On the contrary, the first object of any good
system must be that of developing first-class men
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911) Principles of Scientific Management. p. 2.

A system is a plan or scheme of doctrines intended to develop a particular view.

Albert Mackey (1919). An encyclopedia of freemasonry and its kindred sciences. p. 755.

A "representation" of a system is not a knowledge of this system, but is this system itself
becoming an object, an element of experience..
Florian Znaniecki (1919). Cultural reality‎. p. 231.

1920s
The complexity of a system is no guarantee of its accuracy.
John Packard Jordan (1920). Cost accounting; principles and practice. p. 7.

In terms of the quantum theory, a system is defined as a collection of bands corresponding to a

common transition between two major electron levels. Sets of bands in a system can be
selected such that the frequency intervals between successive bands in the set change in an
arithmetic progression. These sets can be chosen in two different ways, the frequency intervals
increasing in opposite directions in the two sets. Deslandres, who did the pioneer work in this
field, called one series of such sets " first progressions," and the other series " second
progressions." An entire system of bands, often eighty or more in number, can thus be
represented as a function of two parameters p and n. The parameter n varies in a first
progression, p remaining constant. The parameter p varies in a second progression, n
remaining constant.
Raymond T. Birgg (1926) "Electronic bands". In: Bulletin of the National Research Council‎.
Vol 11. March to December 1926. National Research Council (U.S). p. 73.

Each atom is a system of all things.

Alfred North Whitehead (1929). Process and reality. p. 53.

1930s
The crucial question is whether one is safe in assuming that the immense machinery of power
that has resulted from activity of the utilitarian type can be made, on anything like present lines,
to serve disinterested ends; whether it will not rather minister to the egoistic aims either of
national groups or of individuals.
Irving Babbitt (1930), "What I Believe"

A system is said to be coherent if every fact in the system is related every other fact in the
system by relations that are not merely conjunctive. A deductive system affords a good
example of a coherent system.
Lizzie Susan Stebbing (1930) A modern introduction to logic. p. 198.

The ordinary logic has a great deal to say about genera and species, or in our nineteeth
century dialect, about classes. Now a class is a set of objects compromising all that stand to
one another in a special relation of similarity. But where ordinary logic talks of classes the logic
of relatives talks of systems. A system is a set of objects compromising all that stands to one
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another in a group of connected relations. Induction according to ordinary logic rises from the
contemplation of a sample of a class to that of a whole class; but according to the logic of
relatives it rises from the comtemplation of a fragment of a system to the envisagement of the
complete system.
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 – 1914) Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce,
Volume 3. Published 1930. p. 5.

Systems, scientific and philosophic, come and go. Each method of limited understanding is at
length exhausted. In its prime each system is a triumphant success: in its decay it is an
obstructive nuisance.
Alfred North Whitehead (1933) Adventures of Ideas, p. 203.

They constantly try to escape

From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
T. S. Eliot, The Rock (1934)

Lewin formally defines a Gestalt as: "a system whose parts are dynamically connected in such
a way that a change of one part results in a change of all other parts."
Kurt Lewin (1936) Principles of Topological Psychology p. 218, as cited in: Granville
Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener, Karl M. Dallenbach (1937) The American journal
of psychology. Vol. 50, p. 374.

When a transfer of matter to or from a system is also possible, the system may be called an
open system.
Frank Henry MacDougall (1939). Thermodynamics and chemistry‎. p. 134.

1940s
A system is defined as any combination of matter that we wish to study
Earl Bowman Millard (1946). Physical chemistry for colleges: a course of instruction. p. 30.

Second half of the 20th century

No system would have ever been framed if people had been simply interested in knowing what
is true, whatever it may be. What produces systems is the interest in maintaining against all
comers that some favourite or inherited idea of ours is sufficient and right. A system may
contain an account of many things which, in detail, are true enough; but as a system, covering
infinite possibilities that neither our experience nor our logic can prejudge, it must be a work of
imagination and a piece of human soliloquy: It may be expressive of human experience, it may
be poetical; but how should anyone who really coveted truth suppose that it was true?
George Santayana, The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy, p. 49

When I criticize a system, they think I criticize them—and that is of course because they accept
the system and identify themselves with it. All love and bliss! And they seem to have no idea
that the affluence (which for them is the kingdom of God) has another side to it—the buried
bodies of children in Vietnam and the Negro-Puerto Rican ghettos.
Thomas Merton, as cited in Follow the Ecstasy: The Hermitage Years of Thomas Merton by
John Howard Griffin (1983), p. 97

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1950s
A system is difficult to define, but it is easy to recognize some of its characteristics. A system
possesses boundaries which segregate it from the rest of its field: it is cohensive in the sense
that it resists encroachment from without...
Marvin Gerard Cline (1950). Fundamentals of a theory of the self: some exploratory
speculations‎. p. 45.

Now a system is said to be at equilibrium when it has no further tendency to change its
properties
Walter John Moore (1950). Physical chemistry. p. 56.

Every part of the system is so related to every other part that any change in one aspect results
in dynamic changes in all other parts of the total system
Arthur D. Hall and Robert E. Fagen (1956), "Definition of System", in: General Systems, 1
(1956), p. 18: Cited in: Harold Chestnut (1967) Systems Engineering Methods. p. 121
A system is any portion of the universe set aside for certain specified purposes. For our
concern, a system is set aside from the universe in a manner that will enable this system to be
built without having to consider the total universe. Therefore, the system is set aside from the
universe by its inputs and outputs--its boundaries. The system may be said to be in operation
when its inputs are being transformed into the required outputs. (Incidently, we are not here
concerned with completely closed systems.) The systems that do concern us all have a
number of components within their boundaries which together effect the transformation of the
inputs to the required outputs. A man-machine system is one in which the components are
comprised of both men and machines. Keep in mind that it is only when the components are
operating together that the inputs are transformed into the proper outputs. Within this definition,
a system may be anything from an amoeba to a transistor, to a weapon system, to a planet--
depending on what the specified inputs and outputs are. The systems that specifically concern
us are complex man-machine systems that have to be built.
Kay Inaba et al. (1956). "A rational method for applying behavioral technology to man-
machine system design". In: Symposium on Air Force Human Engineering, Personnel and
Training Research: papers. Volume 455 van Publication National Research Council, U.S. p.
65-66.

A system is primarily a living system, and the process which defines it is the maintenance of an
organization which we know as life.
Ralph W. Gerard (1958). Units and Concepts of Biology.

The Systems Engineering method recognizes each system is an integrated whole even though
composed of devices, specialized structures and sub-functions. It is further recognized that any
system has a number of objectives and that the balance between them may differ widely from
system to system. The methods seek to optimize the overall system function according to the
weighted objectives and to achieve maximum capability of its parts.
J.A. Morton (1959) "Integrating of Systems Engineering with Component
Development."Electrical Manufacturing, August 1959; As cited in: Allen B. Rosenstein
(1965) "Systems engineering and Modern Engineering Design"
Modern positivists are apt to see more clearly that science is not a system of concepts but
rather a system of statements.
Karl Raimund Popper (1959) The logic of scientific discovery. p. 11-12.

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1960s
Some engineering artifacts are most easily analysed, described, or designed as an assembly
of simpler parts. Artifacts of this kind are called systems. Some systems have the property that
flowing through them are streams of some 'working fluid' (which may be matter, energy, or
information), in such a way that the 'working fluid' passes in turn through many parts of the
system, which is in consequence termed a sequential (or flow) system. Examples are a
chemical plant, an electrical power distribution network, a digital computer, a sewer system.
Systems which do not have this property are termed associative systems of which examples
are a motor car, an aircraft, or a bridge - - it is with (sequential) systems that the theory of
system design has primarily been developed.
William Gosling (1962). The design of engineering systems. New York, Wiley

A system is a set of objects with relationships between the … in

may be described generally as a complex of elements or
components directly or indirectly related in a causal network, …
Also, we are mainly interested in systems within which some
process is continually going on, including an interchange with an
environment across the boundary. It is generally agreed that when
we deal with the more open system with a highly flexible structure,
the distinction between the boundaries and the environment
becomes a more and more arbitrary matter, dependent upon the
purpose of the observer.
It is sheer nonsense to
Arthur D. Hall (1962) as cited in: Addison C. Bennett (1978) expect that any human
Improving management performance in health care institutions: being has yet been able to
a total systems approach. p. 40. attain such insight into the
problems of society that he
Synergy is the only word in our language that means behavior of can really identify the
whole systems unpredicted by the separately observed behaviors central problems and
of any of the system's separate parts or any subassembly of the determine how they should
system's parts. There is nothing in the chemistry of a toenail that be solved. The systems in
predicts the existence of a human being. which we live are far too
Buckminster Fuller (1963) Operating Manual for Spaceship complicated as yet for our
Earth. intellectual powers and
technology to understand.
A system must be designed and tested as a complete entity. The C. West Churchman, 1968.
word 'system' has come, through actual practice, to include: the
prime mission equipment; its supporting command, control,
training, checkout, test, and maintenance equipment; the facilities required to operate and
maintain the system; the selection and training of personnel specialists; the operational and
maintenance procedures; instrumentation and data reduction for test and evaluation; special
aviation and acceptance programs and logistics support programs for spare and depot
maintenance.
All parts of a system must have a common unified purpose: to contribute to the production of a
single set of optimum outputs from given inputs with respect to time, cost, and performance
measures of effectiveness. The absolute necessity for coherence requires an organization of
creative technology which lead to the successful design of the complex military system. This
organized creative technology is called Systems Engineering.
USAF (1964) Air Force Systems Command Manual UFSCM 375-5, February 1964: Cited
in: Harold Chestnut (1967) Systems Engineering Methods. p. 36-37.

The systems engineering method recognizes each system is an integrated whole even though
composed of diverse, specialized structures and sub-functions. It further recognizes that any
system has a number of objectives and that the balance between them may differ widely from
system to system. The methods seek to optimize the overall system functions according to the
weighted objectives and to achieve maximum compatibility of its parts.
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Harold Chestnut (1965) Systems Engineering Tools by Harold Chestnut. Wiley.

A system is not something given in nature, but something defined by intelligence... We select,
from an infinite number of relations between things, a set which, because of coherence and
pattern and purpose, permits an interpretation of what might otherwise be a meaningless
cavalcade of arbitrary events. It follows that the detection of system in the world outside
ourselves is a subjective matter. Two people will not necessarily agree on the existence, or
nature, or boundaries of any systems so detected.
Anthony Stafford Beer (1966, p. 242–3) as cited in: John Mingers (2006) Realising Systems
Thinking: Knowledge and Action in Management Science. p. 86.

The concept of a system is not a simple or unique one. There are many different kinds of
systems, and different systems may be organized and operated in different ways. As
individuals we all belong to some social system, we participate in an economic system, we are
the product of several educational systems, and we are members of one or more family
systems. In a similar fashion, the equipment of which physical systems are made may be
members of many other systems, such as electrical, mechanical, sensing, actuating, energy,
materials, and/or information systems. One of the challenges to the person who engineers a
system is to find the many alternative ways in which the function, the operation, and/or the
equipment of concern and interest may be considered, understood, and made to perform most
effectively.
Harold Chestnut (1967) Systems Engineering Methods p. 1.

A system can be defined as a set of elements standing in interrelations.

Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968). General system theory: foundations, development,
applications‎. p. 55.

It is sheer nonsense to expect that any human being has yet been able to attain such insight
into the problems of society that he can really identify the central problems and determine how
they should be solved. The systems in which we live are far too complicated as yet for our
intellectual powers and technology to understand.
C. West Churchman (1968) The Systems Approach p.x

'System' is the concept that refers both to a complex of interdependencies between parts,
components, and processes, that involves discernible regularities of relationships, and to a
similar type of interdependency between such a complex and its surrounding environment.
Talcott Parsons (1968) "Systems Analysis: Social Systems" in: International Encyclopedia
of the Social Sciences. cited in: Ida R. Hoos (1972) Systems Analysis in Public Policy: A
Critique. p. 458.

The old art depicted space as uniform and enclosed. The new art perceives space as organic
and open. The old art was an object. The new art is a system. The configuration of the
movement is more important than the shape of the object. The message of a kinetic and
luminic work is the light and movement it produces. It has no other message. It has no
meaning besides movement.
Willoughby Sharp, "Luminism and Kineticism," in: Minimal Art.- A Critical Anthology,
Gregory Battcock, ed. (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1968), p. 358

1970s
A system is anything that is not chaos, and even though history seems highly chaotic at times,
we have an intuitive feeling that it is not pure chaos.

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Kenneth E. Boulding. (1971). Collected Papers: Toward a general social science. L. D.

Singell (ed). p. 151.

The notion of "system" has gained central importance in contemporary science, society and
life. In many fields of endeavor, the necessity of a "systems approach" or "systems thinking" is
emphasized, new professions called "systems engineering," "systems analysis" and the like
have come into being, and there can be little doubt that this this concept marks a genuine,
necessary, and consequential development in science and world-view.
Ervin László (1972) Introduction to Systems Philosophy: Toward a New Paradigm of
Contemporary Thought. xvii.

Everyone knows what engineering is. All that's left is to define systems, and I'm not fool
enough to do that.
Robert Machol (1971) in: Paul Lewis "Mathematicians Are Useful." The California Tech.
May 6, 1971. p. 1: Machol explains his definition of systems engineering.

Systems science is the ordered arrangement of knowledge acquired from the study of systems
in the observable world, together with the application of this knowledge to the design of man-
made systems.
Philip M'Pherson (1974). A perspective on systems science and systems philosophy.
Futures, 6, p. 229.

As any poet knows, a system is a way of looking at the world.

Gerald Weinberg (1975) Introduction to General Systems Thinking. p. 52.

Seen politically, systems follow one another, each consuming the previous one. They live on
ever-bequeathed and ever-disappointed hope, which never entirely fades. Its spark is all that
survives, as it eats its way along the blasting fuse. For this spark, history is merely an
occasion, never a goal.
Ernst Jünger, Eumeswil (1977)

1980s
A system is a set of two or more elements that satisfies the following three conditions. (1) The
behavior of each element has an effect on the behavior of the whole. (2) The behavior of the
elements and their effects on the whole are interdependent. the way each element behaves
and the way it affects the whole depends on how at least one other element behaves. (3)
However subgroups of the elements are formed, each has an effect on the behavior of the
whole and none has an independent effect on it.
Russell L. Ackoff (1981) , Creating the Corporate Future. p. 15-16.

The principal horror of any system which defines the good in terms of profit rather than in terms
of human need, or which defines human need to the exclusion of the psychic and emotional
components of that need — the principal horror of such a system is that it robs our work of its
erotic value, its erotic power and life appeal and fulfillment. Such a system reduces work to a
travesty of necessities, a duty by which we earn bread or oblivion for ourselves and those we
love. But this is tantamount to blinding a painter and then telling her to improve her work, and
to enjoy the act of painting. It is not only next to impossible, it is also profoundly cruel.
Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press. 1984. p. 55. ISBN
978-0-89594-142-8.

A system is recognized as such by remaining recognizable as 'itself' in spite of changes in its

detailed appearance.
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Anatol Rapoport. (1986). General system theory: essential concepts & applications‎. p. 8.

With increasing size and complexity of the implementations of information systems, it is

necessary to use some logical construct (or architecture) for defining and controlling the
interfaces and the integration of all of the components of the system.
John Zachman (1987) "A framework for information systems architecture". In: IBM Systems
Journal, Vol 26, Issue 3, p. 276.

For a long time, people have been trying to characterize or define the notion of system. After
all, “systems” are supposed to be what System Theory is about. The results so far have been
contradictory and unsatisfactory. This confusion at the foundations has led many to conclude
that there is no such thing as a "system" and hence to deny that System Theory is about
anything. Even those most sympathetic to the notion have difficulties at this level. The very
founders of System Theory did not try to say what a system was; and as for System Theory,
they characterized it only obliquely, by saying it comprised all studies of interest to more than
one discipline. They thereby begged the entire question.
Robert Rosen, "Some comments on systems and system theory." in: International Journal
of General Systems. Vol 13, (1986); p. 1.

1990s
Enterprise Engineering is based on the belief that an enterprise, as any other complex system
can be designed or improved in an orderly fashion thus giving a better overall result than ad
hoc organisation and design.
Peter Bernus, Laszlo Nemes, and R. Morris (1994) "Possibilities and limitations of reusing
enterprise models." IFAC Workshop, Proceedings from Intelligent Manufacturing Systems.

Today the network of relationships linking the human race to itself and to the rest of the
biosphere is so complex that all aspects affect all others to an extraordinary degree. Someone
should be studying the whole system, however crudely that has to be done, because no gluing
together of partial studies of a complex nonlinear system can give a good idea of the behaviour
of the whole.
Murray Gell-Mann in ISSS The Primer Project (http://www.newciv.org/ISSS_Primer/semina
r.html) International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) seminar, October 12 -
November 10, 1997.

What is a system? A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to

try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is
no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must
include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment. (We are of course talking here about
a man-made system.)
W. Edwards Deming (1999) The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education

21st century

2000s
Another system is possible. Another system is a necessity.
Neil Faulkner, Mass Deaths, Mass Poverty, Mass Repression (https://www.timetomutiny.or
g/post/mass-deaths-mass-poverty-mass-repression), co-written with Phil Hearse, 20 March
2020, Mutiny

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The term "system" is unquestionably one of the most widely used terms not only in science, but
in other areas of human endeavor as well. It is a highly overworked term, which enjoys different
meanings under different circumstances and for different people. However, when separated
from its specific connotations and uses, the term "system" is almost never explicitly defined.
George Klir (2001) Facets of Systems Science, p. 4.

In the most abstract sense, a system is a set of objects together with relationships among the
objects. Such a definition implies that a system has properties, functions, and dynamics distinct
from its constituent objects and relationships.
Tom R. Burns (2006) "System Theories" in: George Ritzer ed. The Encyclopedia of
Sociology, Blackwell Publishing.

A system is a set of things — people, cells, molecules, or whatever — interconnected in such a

way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time... The system, to a large extent,
causes its own behavior.
Donella Meadows (2008) Thinking in systems: A Primer. p. 2 as cited in: Stephen M Millett
(2011) Managing the Future: A Guide to Forecasting and Strategic Planning. p. 51.

Any virtue systematically applied becomes a vice. Morality is attention, not system.
James Richardson, Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten Second Essays (2001), #398

Societies grow into systems. The systems require management and are therefore increasingly
wielded, like a tool or a weapon, by those who have power. The rest of the population is still
needed to do specific things. But the citizens are not needed to contribute to the form or
direction of the society. The more "advanced" the civilization, the more irrelevant the citizen
becomes.
John Ralston Saul, Voltaire's Bastards : The Dictatorship of Reason in the West (1992)

2010s
A physical system is just that: a physical system. What is systematized is matter itself, and the
processes in which the system is realized are also material. But a biological system is more
complex: it is both biological and physical — it is matter with the added component of life; and
a social system is more complex still: it is physical, and biological, with the added component
of social order, or value. … A semiotic system is still one step further in complexity: it is
physical, and biological, and social —and also semiotic: what is being systematized is
meaning. In evolutionary terms, it is a system of the fourth order of complexity
M.A.K. Halliday (2005, p. 68) as cited in: Andrew Halliday and Marion Glaser (2011) "A
Management Perspective on Social Ecological Systems". In: Human Ecology Review, Vol.
18, No. 1, 2011.

A self–organizing system acts autonomously, as if the interconnecting components had a

single mind. And as these components spontaneously march to the beat of their own drummer,
they organize, adapt, and evolve toward a greater complexity than one would ever expect by
just looking at the parts by themselves.
L.K. Samuels, In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human
Action. Cobden Press, (2013) p. 225.

No single human being could ever comprehend or acquire the full knowledge needed to
mastermind all–encompassing events. This means that sociopolitical systems can never find
the perfect leader or perfect management system to fine–tune society. The inherent nature of
complexity is to doubt certainty and any pretense to finite and flawless data. Put another way,

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under uncertainty principles, any attempt by political systems to “impose order” has an equal
chance to instead “impose disorder.”
L.K. Samuels, In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human
Action, Cobden Press (2013) p. 227

Going into this system means you cannot be against it. It's good to keep a non-governmental
free organisation without money from the government, and without having to play the political
games. Just to be free and to have the possibility to discuss and control each decision of the
political system from the streets... It's the best and most powerful place to be.
Oksana Shachko, as quoted in Interview: Speaking of Femen-ism (https://luxtimes.lu/archiv
es/12783-interview-speaking-of-femen-ism) (3 August 2015), Luxemburger Wort.

2020s
...those people who defend a nihilistic and ruthless system may go down with it as it implodes
in on itself...
James Fitzgerald, "Proper Etiquette for Agent Provocateurs" (https://www.coreysdigs.com/g
lobal/proper-etiquette-for-agent-provocateurs/)

We are raised to believe that breaking the law is wrong and following the law is right. But what
if the law itself is a miscarriage of justice, crafted by those more interested in power and politics
than in fairness?
…do we have no choice but to adhere to a system that is proven to be unjust? Or do we have
the right to object?
…One of the greatest dangers of a system pretending to be just, is that citizens come to accept
the system's injustices as the norm. Over time, they begin to believe that only the state
apparatus can implement justice, and that questioning or opposing the justice system makes
them criminals or bad citizens.
Caroline Hören, "When Injustice Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty" (https://www.di
vinejuststate.com/post/when-injustice-becomes-law-resistance-becomes-duty), The Divine
Just State (July 2024)
Curator's Note: The Divine Just State is an online magazine of the Ahmadi Religion of
Peace and Light (AROPL), a Shia Islam-based new religious movement that is not to be
confused with the Sunni Islam-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ).

Anonymous
A system is only for the philosopher, for a system implies analysis, and the poetic method is
essentially synthesis.
In: The Academy, Volume 59, 1900.

A system is a body composed of two or more components or phases.

In: Iron and steel: (a pocket encyclopedia), p. 220. 1910.

A saint without a system is a fool, and a fool never yet convinced anybody...
In: The Independent, 1915. p. 428.

When a system is radically wrong, we must abandon that system and find a better one.
In: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volumes 69-71 1917.

System is what differentiates the professional from the amateur.

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In: "Get yourself a system‎" in: The Rotarian. juli 1943 - v. 63. p. 34.

See also
Enterprise architecture
Environment
Order
Synergy
Synthesis
Systems theory

External links
Definitionen von "System" (1572-2002) (http://www.muellerscience.com/SPEZIALITAETEN/Sys
tem/System_Definitionen.htm) by Roland Müller, 2001-2007 (most in German).

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