Even Toynbee, floundering through his massive survey of 20-odd civilizations, was finally able to discern only that: Systems tend to malfunction conspicuously just after their greatest triumph. Toynbee explains this effect by pointing out the strong tendency to apply a previously successful strategy to the new challenge.

p. 35 cited in: Kevin Kelly (1988) Signal: communication tools for the information age. p. 7 - Systemantics: the underground text of systems lore, 1986