--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A system is a set of things people…" description: "\"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 tim..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/donella-meadows-9060_behavior_a-system-is-a-set-of-things-people-cells_3040531.png" --- # A system is a set of things people, cells, molecules, or… ![“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.” quote by Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/donella-meadows-9060_behavior_a-system-is-a-set-of-things-people-cells_3040531.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/donella-meadows-9060_behavior_a-system-is-a-set-of-things-people-cells_3040531.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/donella-meadows-9060_behavior_a-system-is-a-set-of-things-people-cells_3040531.png) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Systems are interconnected parts that generate emergent behavior over time. **In simple terms:** Systems create their own patterns. Key Takeaway Study system dynamics to influence outcomes. Themes systems interconnectedness emergence Mood analytical educational Type academic practical When to use this quote - business strategy - environmental policy - organisational design Key Concepts Systems theory complexity Questions to Reflect On - How does feedback shape system behavior? - What levers can change system outcomes? A Different Perspective Complex systems can be unpredictable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“So, what is a system? A system is a set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-h-meadows/so-what-is-a-system-a-system-is-a-set-of-things-people-cells/) [Donella H. Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-h-meadows/) > [“Beside her, Sam let out a breath, his face wan. If the smell wasn’t bad enough, the people in the cells, clinging to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/beside-her-sam-let-out-a-breath-his-face-wan-if-the-smell-wasn-t-bad/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [Friedrich Hayek .. seems to have been the first to postulate what is the core of this paper, namely, the idea of memory and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-fuster/friedrich-hayek-seems-to-have-been-the-first-to-postulate-what-is-the/) Joaquin Fuster > [We have about 100 million cells interconnected in our brains. They communicate with one another through electrical signals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-nicolelis/we-have-about-100-million-cells-interconnected-in-our-brains-they/) [Miguel Nicolelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-nicolelis/) > [The world is a complex, interconnected, finite, ecological - social - psychological - economic system. We treat it as if it were not, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/the-world-is-a-complex-interconnected-finite-ecological-social/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Originally, the atoms of carbon from which we're made were floating in the air, part of a carbon dioxide molecule. The only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/originally-the-atoms-of-carbon-from-which-we-re-made-were-floating-in/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Nature is flexible and resilient. Nature likes redundancy and dispersion. It is approximate and deals in gradients. All boundaries are permeable. Nature nests small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frenay/nature-is-flexible-and-resilient-nature-likes-redundancy-and/) Robert Frenay > [Beyond natural history Other biological sciences take up the study at other levels of organization: dissecting the individual into organs and tissues and seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marston-bates/beyond-natural-history-other-biological-sciences-take-up-the-study-at/) [Marston Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marston-bates/) > [We are nothing but the product of billions of years of molecules coming together and ratcheting up through natural selection, we are composed only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/we-are-nothing-but-the-product-of-billions-of-years-of-molecules/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [The cell, this elementary keystone of living nature, is far from being a peculiar chemical giant molecule or even a living protein and as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-hertwig/the-cell-this-elementary-keystone-of-living-nature-is-far-from-being/) Oscar Hertwig > [ All of today's DNA, strung through all the cells of the earth, is simply an extension and elaboration of \[the\] first molecule. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/all-of-today-s-dna-strung-through-all-the-cells-of-the-earth-is/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Clients are becoming more global; they're realizing that markets are more interconnected. It's no longer the local regional clients buying the local regional flavors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-callahan-erdoes/clients-are-becoming-more-global-they-re-realizing-that-markets-are/) [Mary Callahan Erdoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-callahan-erdoes/) > [The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [There is no true expertise in the humanities without knowing all of the humanities. Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/there-is-no-true-expertise-in-the-humanities-without-knowing-all-of/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [In a community all acts of individuals and of organizations are directly or indirectly interconnected and interdependent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-barnard/in-a-community-all-acts-of-individuals-and-of-organizations-are/) [Chester Barnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-barnard/) ## More by Donella Meadows > [Ending poverty calls for humility, honesty, freedom from ideology and refusal to accept cruel simplicities about anyone's human potential. It requires listening to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/ending-poverty-calls-for-humility-honesty-freedom-from-ideology-and/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany have detailed plans to cut their greenhouse emissions by 20 to 50 percent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/denmark-the-netherlands-and-germany-have-detailed-plans-to-cut-their/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A grand jury hears only one side - that of the prosecutor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-grand-jury-hears-only-one-side-that-of-the-prosecutor/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [What Clinton did with Lewinsky was despicable but was no threat to the nation. That he lied about it repeatedly and to the public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/what-clinton-did-with-lewinsky-was-despicable-but-was-no-threat-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in-the-civilized-world-with-a/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Before they got vengeful, conservatives had some useful points to make about welfare. Government 'help' is too often guilt-assuaging gesture. It creates layers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/before-they-got-vengeful-conservatives-had-some-useful-points-to-make/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Social services, not wealth per se, seem to be the key to lower birth rates. The Chinese, although among the poorest peoples of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/social-services-not-wealth-per-se-seem-to-be-the-key-to-lower-birth/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [You should issue demerits for tree cutting or the destruction of humus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/you-should-issue-demerits-for-tree-cutting-or-the-destruction-of-humus/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A good leader sets the right goals, gets things moving, and helps us to discover that we already know what to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-good-leader-sets-the-right-goals-gets-things-moving-and-helps-us-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [The latest scientific assessment has almost doubled the predicted rate of warming if no changes are made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/the-latest-scientific-assessment-has-almost-doubled-the-predicted/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Some call-in moderators are neutral and courteous. Then there's Rush Limbaugh, who is funny and pompous and a scapegoater and hatemonger. His popularity could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/some-call-in-moderators-are-neutral-and-courteous-then-there-s-rush/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Smart development builds on a region's own skills, resources and local businesses. Dumb growth invites a big corporation in, surrenders control and profits to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/smart-development-builds-on-a-region-s-own-skills-resources-and-local/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Glaciers are almost gone from Glacier National Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/glaciers-are-almost-gone-from-glacier-national-park/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [I call the transformed world toward which we can move ‘sustainable,’ by which I mean a great deal more than a world that merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/i-call-the-transformed-world-toward-which-we-can-move-sustainable-by/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [We can't control systems or figure them out. But we can dance with them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-can-t-control-systems-or-figure-them-out-but-we-can-dance-with-them/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) [Explore all 75 Donella Meadows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## More Behavior quotes > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I now know that deep within the human concept is something dark, selfish, and completely willing to do whatever is necessary to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-west/i-now-know-that-deep-within-the-human-concept-is-something-dark/) [Melissa West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-west/) > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The number of poor, and poorly prepared, students who succeed in college and beyond undercuts the simplistic notion that economic or educational disadvantage is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-merullo/the-number-of-poor-and-poorly-prepared-students-who-succeed-in/) [Roland Merullo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-merullo/) > [To behave creatively in art means behavior with skill; and skill comes from discipline, not derangement. The artist who knows the rules -and proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burne-hogarth/to-behave-creatively-in-art-means-behavior-with-skill-and-skill-comes/) Burne Hogarth > [You don't put milk in chamomile tea - that's disgusting behavior! That's not right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-fraser/you-don-t-put-milk-in-chamomile-tea-that-s-disgusting-behavior-that-s/) [Laura Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-fraser/) > [The laws of thermodynamics, as empirically determined, express the approximate and probable behavior of systems of a great number of particles, or, more precisely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-willard-gibbs/the-laws-of-thermodynamics-as-empirically-determined-express-the/) J. Willard Gibbs > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-tipping-point-is-that-magic-moment-when-an-idea-trend-or-social/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [I think we've told a lot of lies about human behavior through film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/i-think-we-ve-told-a-lot-of-lies-about-human-behavior-through-film/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [The strongest rebellion may be expressed in quiet, undramatic behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-spock/the-strongest-rebellion-may-be-expressed-in-quiet-undramatic-behavior/) [Benjamin Spock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-spock/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [If you want good behavior, don't pay on a commission basis. Our judges aren't paid so much a case. We keep them pretty well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-want-good-behavior-don-t-pay-on-a-commission-basis-our-judges/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 4,218 Behavior quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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... 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