“… of it may in fact be equated with the second law of thermodynamics — the gradual dispersion of matter and energy into a state of chaos. But, on the other hand, Freud's death-instinct, which works so quietly within the organism, appears, when projected outward, as active destructiveness or sadism.”

— Arthur Koestler (1978), Janus: a Summing Up (pg. 64)

“Turning once more to the other aspect of Freud’s Thanatos, the outstanding characteristic of living substance is, as already mentioned, that it seems to ignore the second law of thermodynamics. Instead of dissipating its energy into the environment, the living animal extracts energy from it, eats environment, …”

— Arthur Koestler (1978), Janus: a Summing Up (pg. 66)

“The most general manifestation of the integrative tendencies is the reversal of the second law of thermodynamics in open systems feeding on negative entropy (Schrodinger), and the evolutionary trend towards ‘spontaneously developing states of greater heterogeneity and complexity’ (Herrick).”

— Arthur Koestler (1978), Janus: a Summing Up (pg. 306)

“Koestler’s latest book, Janus: a Summing Up, as the subtitle implies, restates themes from many of his other works and tries to show that they all derive from a single, unifying viewpoint, which is perhaps best described as ‘anti-reductionism’. His betes noires are scientists who insist that man is "nothing but" a killer ape, or a stimulus-response machine, or a bundle of neuroses, or the product of purely random mutations. To the contrary, Mr. Koestler argues, a human being is a "holon"- an entity that is more than the sum of its parts and, at the same time, a part of some larger whole. To symbolize man's dual nature (see: dualism), Mr. Koestler borrows the image of the two-faced Roman god, Janus. Each of us has strong "self-assertive" tendencies that help define us as unique individuals; we also have strong "integrative" tendencies that help tie us to one social group or another, each with its own rules and constraints. Only when these opposing tendencies are kept in equilibrium can we function successfully.”

— Gerald Jonas (1978), “Seeing the Universe Whole” [5]

“Man cannot be treated as units in operations of political arithmetic because they behave like the symbols for zero and the infinite, which dislocate all mathematical operations.”

— Arthur Koestler (1949), Crossman (Ѻ)

“God seems to have left the receiver off the hook, and time is running out.”

— Arthur Koestler (1956), The Ghost in the Machine (Ѻ)

“The true mark of genius is not perfection, but originality, the opening of new frontiers; once this is done, the conquered territory becomes common property.”

— Arthur Koestler (c.1960) [4]

“Somebody once asked Niels Bohr why he had a horseshoe hanging above the front door of his house. Surely you, a world-famous physicist, can't really believe that hanging a horseshoe above your door brings you luck? Of course not, Bohr replied, but I have been reliably informed that it will bring me luck whether I believe in it or not.”

— Arthur Koester (c.1960), Publication (Ѻ)