Home / Authors / Fritjof Capra

Fritjof Capra

Fritjof Capra Quotes

Physicist

Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American physicist, systems theorist, and ecological thinker. He is best known for his 1975 book 'The Tao of Physics', which explores parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism. Capra advocates for deep ecology and systems thinking, integrating science, society, and ecology. His works, including 'The Turning Point' and 'The Web of Life', have influenced global environmental movements and interdisciplinary studies. He co-founded the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, promoting sustainable education. Capra's ideas have sparked both acclaim and criticism, but he remains a key figure in paradigm shift discourse.

Filter quotes by topic

All Science Patterns Physics Humans Theory Universe Way World Ecological Physicist Modern Term Whole Modern Physics Awareness Community Concepts Doe Ecology Environment

Famous Fritjof Capra Quotes

“The new paradigm may be called a holistic world view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts. It may also be called an ecological view, if the term "ecological" is used in a much broader and deeper sense than usual. Deep ecological awareness recognizes the fundamental interdependence of all phenomena and the fact that, as individuals and societies we are all embedded in (and ultimately dependent on) the cyclical process of nature.”

Source: The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision

“The term "paradigm," from the Greek paradeigma ("pattern"), was used by Kuhn to denote a conceptual framework shared by a community of scientists and providing them with model problems and solutions”

Problem Used Term Community Models Solutions Scientist Patterns Greek Providing Framework Paradigm Problems And Solutions Conceptual Framework

Book:Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations with Remarkable People

Source: Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations with Remarkable People

“Before the 1940s the terms "system" and "systems thinking" had been used by several scientists, but it was Bertalanffy's concepts of an open system and a general systems theory that established systems thinking as a major scientific movement”

Thinking Used Term Movement Theory Majors Concepts Scientist Systems Thinking Systems Theory

Book:The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision

Source: The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision

“Doing work which has to be done over and over again helps us recognize the natural cycles of growth and decay, of birth and death, and thus become aware of the dynamic order of the universe. "Ordinary" work, as the root meaning of the term indicates, is work that is in harmony with the order we perceive in the natural environment.”

Done Helping Order Universe Growth Term Natural Environment Birth Ordinary Roots Harmony Perceive Cycles Decay Natural Environment Birth And Death

Author:Fritjof Capra

“Scientists, therefore, are responsible for their research, not only intellectually but also morally. This responsibility has become an important issue in many of today's sciences, but especially so in physics, in which the results of quantum mechanics and relativity theory have opened up two very different paths for physicists to pursue. They may lead us - to put it in extreme terms - to the Buddha or to the Bomb, and it is up to each of us to decide which path to take.”

“Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe. It shows that we cannot decompose the world into independently existing smallest units. As we penetrate into matter, nature does not show us any isolated "building blocks," but rather appears as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of the whole. These relations always include the observer in an essential way. The human observer constitute the final link in the chain of observational processes, and the properties of any atomic object can be understood only in terms of the object's interaction with the observer.”

“The basic pattern of life is a network. Whenever you see life, you see networks. The whole planet, what we can term 'Gaia' is a network of processes involving feedback tubes. Humans are part of the larger whole, Gaia.”

Humans Whole Life Is Process Term Planets Patterns Ecology Feedback Involving Tubes Gaia Deep Ecology

Author:Fritjof Capra