--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've always wanted to find the rules that…" description: "\"I've always wanted to find the rules that govern everything. It's amazing that such rules exist. It's even more amazing that we can find them.\" — Geoff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a54/geoffrey-west-7474_always_i-ve-always-wanted-to-find-the-rules-tha_2172400.jpg" --- # I've always wanted to find the rules that govern… ![“I've always wanted to find the rules that govern everything. It's amazing that such rules exist. It's even more amazing that we can find them.” quote by Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a54/geoffrey-west-7474_always_i-ve-always-wanted-to-find-the-rules-tha_2172400.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a54/geoffrey-west-7474_always_i-ve-always-wanted-to-find-the-rules-tha_2172400.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a54/geoffrey-west-7474_always_i-ve-always-wanted-to-find-the-rules-tha_2172400.jpg) > “I've always wanted to find the rules that govern everything. It's amazing that such rules exist. It's even more amazing that we can find them.” [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. There are universal rules governing complex systems, and humans can discover them. **In simple terms:** Universal rules exist and can be found. Key Takeaway Study and apply fundamental patterns. Themes science systems universality discovery Mood analytical inquisitive Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - research projects - education curricula - policy design Key Concepts complexity theory physics biology mathematics Questions to Reflect On - What universal rule could explain social behavior? - How can we test these rules in real life? A Different Perspective Complex systems may not fit simple rules. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [Amazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazing/) [Amazing Rules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazing-rules-4657413/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everything/) [Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist/) [Find](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/find/) [Govern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/govern/) [Govern Amazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/govern-amazing-4657414/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Rules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules/) [Rules Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-exist-806827/) [Rules Govern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-govern-561549/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Rules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-rules-4323550/) ## Related quotes > [“Politics is the process by which a society chooses the rules that will govern it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daron-acemo-lu/politics-is-the-process-by-which-a-society-chooses-the-rules-that/) [Daron Acemoğlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daron-acemo-lu/) > [I'll be what I wanted to become, Against the rules or my old world .What I love and what I want ,I'll now own !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/i-ll-be-what-i-wanted-to-become-against-the-rules-or-my-old-world/) [Laylablack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laylablack/) > [Creativity means learning where the rules exist, and then breaking them! Saying, "It's better this way." But you have to know the rules in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/creativity-means-learning-where-the-rules-exist-and-then-breaking/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Businesses will have to lead the charge - demanding uniform, national, predictable rules to govern this transition, so that there is a level and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/businesses-will-have-to-lead-the-charge-demanding-uniform-national/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Colleges are a unique space in our culture. They're a temporary constellation of humans, like a workplace. And the rules about sexual assault and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-grigoriadis/colleges-are-a-unique-space-in-our-culture-they-re-a-temporary/) [Vanessa Grigoriadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-grigoriadis/) > [For 60 years, since World War II, we have been trying to create a rules-based system, a global economic system. We understand that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stiglitz/for-60-years-since-world-war-ii-we-have-been-trying-to-create-a-rules/) [Joseph Stiglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stiglitz/) > [Stone's Rules exist because sometimes the truth is too painful, and the lies will land you in prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-stone/stone-s-rules-exist-because-sometimes-the-truth-is-too-painful-and/) [Roger Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-stone/) > [Everything is perfect. Everything is fine. The rules of life are made up. The rules only exist in your mind. Of course there may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/everything-is-perfect-everything-is-fine-the-rules-of-life-are-made/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [“People do not exist to follow rules. Rules exist to protect the people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-akatsuki/people-do-not-exist-to-follow-rules-rules-exist-to-protect-the-people/) [Akira Akatsuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-akatsuki/) > [“The rules that govern competition between species are (and must be) very different from the rules that govern competition within species.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-rules-that-govern-competition-between-species-are-and-must-be/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [Under what law each thing was created, and how necessary it is for it to continue under this, and how it cannot annul the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/under-what-law-each-thing-was-created-and-how-necessary-it-is-for-it/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [You cannot say that something is unchangeable as long as you don't even know what that is or the rules that govern it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/you-cannot-say-that-something-is-unchangeable-as-long-as-you-don-t/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [The rules of life are made up. The rules only exist in your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/the-rules-of-life-are-made-up-the-rules-only-exist-in-your-mind/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-goodell/no-one-is-above-the-game-or-the-rules-that-govern-it-respect-for-the/) [Roger Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-goodell/) > [Rules, whether they govern sexual morality or financial probity, regardless of whether they are justifiable or undesirable, always provoke bold recalcitrants to devise clever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-davenport-hines/rules-whether-they-govern-sexual-morality-or-financial-probity/) [Richard Davenport-Hines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-davenport-hines/) ## More by Geoffrey West > [I spent most of my career doing high-energy physics, quarks, dark matter, string theory and so on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/i-spent-most-of-my-career-doing-high-energy-physics-quarks-dark/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [Your cells are not working as hard as your dog's but harder than your horse's. The bigger the animal, the less energy needed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/your-cells-are-not-working-as-hard-as-your-dog-s-but-harder-than-your/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“While exponential growth is a remarkable manifestation of our extraordinary accomplishments as a species, built into it are the potential seeds of our demise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/while-exponential-growth-is-a-remarkable-manifestation-of-our/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [One of the remarkable things about slums is that they do develop their own social organization and economy and even culture that is, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/one-of-the-remarkable-things-about-slums-is-that-they-do-develop/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The system we have evolved critically relies on people continually wanting new cars and new cell phones, new widgets and gadgets, new clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-system-we-have-evolved-critically-relies-on-people-continually/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Cities are sustained by similar network systems such as roads, railways, and electrical lines that transport people, energy, and resources and whose flow is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/cities-are-sustained-by-similar-network-systems-such-as-roads/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [When you look at a city, you know, it looks so unique. You feel this kind of uniqueness, you know, and especially if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/when-you-look-at-a-city-you-know-it-looks-so-unique-you-feel-this/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“It’s extremely difficult to kill a city! On”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/it-s-extremely-difficult-to-kill-a-city-on/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Perhaps, then, the most surprising consequence of a visionary Theory of Everything is that it implies that on the grand scale the universe, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/perhaps-then-the-most-surprising-consequence-of-a-visionary-theory-of/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“It is all too often forgotten that the whole point of a city is to bring people together, to facilitate interaction, and thereby to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/it-is-all-too-often-forgotten-that-the-whole-point-of-a-city-is-to/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The integration of these two kinds of networks, namely, the requirement that socioeconomic interaction represented by space-filling fractal-like social networks must be anchored to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-integration-of-these-two-kinds-of-networks-namely-the-requirement/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“So why do almost all cities remain viable, whereas the vast majority of companies and organisms die?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/so-why-do-almost-all-cities-remain-viable-whereas-the-vast-majority/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The existence of these remarkable regularities strongly suggests that there is a common conceptual framework underlying all of these very different highly complex phenomena…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-existence-of-these-remarkable-regularities-strongly-suggests-that/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Unfortunately, however, there is another serious catch. Theory dictates that such discoveries must occur at an increasingly accelerating pace; the time between successive innovations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/unfortunately-however-there-is-another-serious-catch-theory-dictates/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [Exciting cities stay exciting, and boring cities stay boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/exciting-cities-stay-exciting-and-boring-cities-stay-boring/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) [Explore all 91 Geoffrey West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've always wanted to find the rules that govern everything. 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