“The universe, they say, depended for its operation on the balance of four forces which they identified as charm, persuasion, uncertainty, and bloody-mindedness.”

—  Terry Pratchett, book The Light Fantastic

Source: The Light Fantastic

Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

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Terry Pratchett796
English author 1948–2015

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“If the organization is faced with greater uncertainty due to technological change, higher performance standards due to increased competition, or diversifies its product line to reduce dependence, the amount of information processing is increased. The organization must adopt at least one of the four strategies when faced with greater uncertainty.”

Jay R. Galbraith (1939–2014) American business theorist

Source: Designing complex organizations, 1973, p. 26

Henry Adams photo

“…we must go to the poets to see what they all meant by it; but the sum is an emotion — clear and strong as love and much clearer than logic,— whose charm lies in its unstable balance. The Transition is the equilibrium between the Love of God,— which is Faith, and the Logic of God,— which is Reason; between the round arch and the pointed. One may not be sure which pleases most, but one need not be harsh towards people who think that the moment of balance is exquisite. The last and highest moment is seen at Chartres where, in 1200, the charm depends on the constant doubt whether emotion or science is uppermost.”

Henry Adams (1838–1918) journalist, historian, academic, novelist

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904)

“The process of formulating and structuring a system are important and creative, since they provide and organize the information, which each system. "establishes the number of objectives and the balance between them which will be optimized". Furthermore, they help identify and define the system parts. Furthermore, they help identify and define the system parts which make up its "diverse, specialized structures and subfunctions.”

Harold Chestnut (1917–2001) American engineer

Source: Systems Engineering Tools, (1965), Systems Engineering Methods (1967), p. 70; First sentences of Ch. 3. Formulating and Structuring the System
In this text Harold Chestnut is here citing:
C. West Churchman, Russell L. Ackoff, and E. Leonard Arnoff (1957) Introduction to Operations Research. Wiley. New York, and
J. Morley English (1964) "Understanding the Engineering Design Process." The Journal of Industrial Engineering, Nov-Dec. 1964 Vol 15 (6). p. 291-296

Oscar Wilde photo

“Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful.”

Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray

Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray

H. Havelock Ellis photo

“"Charm"—which means the power to effect work without employing brute force—is indispensable to women. Charm is a woman's strength just as strength is a man's charm.”

H. Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British physician, writer, and social reformer

The Task of Social Hygiene, ch. 3 HTTP://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/books?id=nAoAAAAAYAAJ&q=%22charm+which+means+the+power+to+effect+work+without+employing+brute+force+is+indispensable+to+women+charm+is+a+woman%27s+strength+just+as+strength+is+a+man%27s+charm%22&pg=PA81#v=onepage

Aesop photo

“Persuasion is often more effectual than force.”

Aesop (-620–-564 BC) ancient Greek storyteller

The Wind and the Sun.

Bertrand Russell photo

“It is not altogether true that persuasion is one thing and force is another. Many forms of persuasion – even many of which everybody approves – are really a kind of force. Consider what we do to our children. We do not say to them: "Some people think the earth is round, and others think it is flat; when you grow up, you can, if you like, examine the evidence and form your own conclusion." Instead of this we say: "The earth is round."”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

By the time our children are old enough to examine the evidence, our propaganda has closed their minds.
Source: 1930s, Power: A New Social Analysis (1938), Ch. 17: The Ethics of Power

“Located in some distant nebula I do what I do so that the universal balance I’m a part of won’t lose its balance.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Situado en alguna nebulosa lejana hago lo que hago, para que el equilibrio universal de que soy parte no pierda el equilibrio.
Voces (1943)

Bias of Priene photo

“Accept of things, having procured them by persuasion, not by force.”

Bias of Priene (-600–-530 BC) ancient Greek philosopher, one of the Seven Sages

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 230)

Mark Skousen photo

“The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.”

Mark Skousen (1947) American economist, investment analyst, newsletter editor, college professor and author

Mark Skousen in: Connor Boyack Latter-Day Liberty: A Gospel Approach to Government and Politics http://books.google.com/books?id=xp79xx4QfrkC&pg=PA266, Connor Boyack, 2011, p. 266

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