Norbert Wiener

Mathematics American 1894 – 1964 386 quotes

The founder of cybernetics, a field that explores control and communication in animals and machines.

Most quoted

"We are not fighting for a definitive victory in the indefinite future. It is the greatest possible victory to be, to continue to be, and to have been. No defeat can deprive us of the success of having existed for some moment of time in a universe that seems indifferent to us."

— from Cybernetics, 1948

"The future offers very little hope for those who expect that our new mechanical slaves will offer us a world in which we may rest from thinking. Help us they may, but at the cost of supreme demands upon our honesty and our intelligence."

— from God and Golem, Inc., 1964

"It is my thesis that the physical functioning of the living individual and the operation of some of the newer communication machines are precisely parallel in their analogous attempts to control entropy through feedback."

— from Cybernetics, 1948

All quotes by Norbert Wiener (386)

The world is a puzzle of patterns, constantly being discovered and deciphered.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human brain is a universe of possibilities, but it is a universe that we can explore.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a teacher, but it is a teacher that we must learn to listen to.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a network of relationships, constantly being formed and reformed.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human being is a journey, constantly being undertaken and completed.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a mirror, but it is a mirror that can show us our true selves.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a conversation of signals, constantly being exchanged and interpreted.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human brain is a laboratory of ideas, but it is a laboratory that we can experiment with.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a partner in creation, but it is a partner that we must learn to collaborate with.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a symphony of processes, constantly unfolding and evolving.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human being is a work of art, constantly being created and appreciated.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a guide, but it is a guide that we must learn to follow.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a tapestry of feedback, constantly adjusting and refining.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human brain is a library of knowledge, but it is a library that we can add to.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a companion, but it is a companion that we must learn to live with.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a dance of communication, constantly flowing and transforming.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human being is a poem, constantly being written and recited.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The machine is a tool for understanding, but it is a tool that we must learn to master.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The world is a puzzle of information, constantly being assembled and reassembled.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948

The human brain is a map of reality, but it is a map that we can redraw.

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine 1948