Complexity Quotes

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

simplicity

At the beginning of the 20th Century, there was a sense in many areas of science that the key discoveries had already been made. These impressions were later shaken by discoveries that opened up vast new areas of knowledge. In contrast, we are struck at the start of the 21st Century by the enormity of what we do not know. Prominent amongst these areas of ignorance is complexity. Advances made in the final two decades of the 20th Century only serve to underscore just how much we have yet to learn about complex phenomena.

science

Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.

Unlike clocks, vacuum cleaners, enema equipment and other human designs, a complex system is never finished; it never has a "final" shape.