1. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Aristotle, Metaphysica
2. Max Wertheimer Gestalt theory (1920s)
3. SYNERGETICS: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking by R. Buckminster Fuller in collaboration with E. J. Applewhite; First Published by Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. 1975, 1979
would appreciate knowing of any other attributions!
Additional attribution -- Kurt Koffka: "It has been said: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing up is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful." (Kurt Koffka, 1935: New York: Harcourt-Brace. p 176) [emphasis added]
On that view, "more than" does not mean that the whole is "greater" than the sum of its parts but that it is more than merely the sum of its parts.
The remarks of an unidentified poster on a different forum make this point: "One frequently finds Gestalt theory characterized by the notion that a Gestalt or whole is more than the sum of its parts. But in fact Gestalt theory did not make such a claim. Rather, Gestalt theory maintains, there are experienced objects and relationships that are fundamentally different from mere collections of sensations, parts, or pieces, or ‘and-sums‘, as Max Wertheimer called them. So what Gestalt theory actually says about this relationship is that a Gestalt is a whole which is different from the sum of its parts."
