Life is the most general case, with physics being the special case, and life involves at least one currently unknown fundamental principle.

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• Present-day physics is completely governed by a system of differential equations... this entire rich system is now completely contained in a single theorem, the principle of least action.quote0.817
  Planck's statement cited to establish the generality and indispensability of least action before Alexander argues it is still insufficient
• Life is not a mechanical property but an inherent attribute of space itself, analogous to Maxwell's electromagnetic field creating light.claim0.811
  Proposition 1 of the Mid-Book Appendix; the most fundamental metaphysical claim of the theory.
• Representation may be a fundamental principle of living systems, but it is difficult to generalize formally because it appears to vanish at the molecular level.claim0.809
  Central open theoretical tension raised in the discussion.
• What we call 'life' is a general condition which exists, to some degree or other, in every part of space: brick, stone, grass, river, painting, building, daffodil, human being, forest, city.quote0.809
  Verbatim statement of the fundamental hypothesis, defining the scope of life.
• What we call 'life' is a general condition which exists, to some degree or other, in every part of space... every connected region of space... has some degree of life, and that this degree of life is well defined, objectively existing, and measurable.hypothesis0.806
  The central predictive/causal hypothesis of the book, to be tested in later chapters.
• Life is exactly that property of space in which each spot becomes unique according to its place in the larger scheme of things.claim0.805
  Definitional claim equating life with spatial uniqueness.
• Life is really the primary thing, and the properties are really secondary.claim0.804
  Epistemological priority: the felt life of a center is more basic than the geometric properties that support it.
• We seem to have a fundamental observation - so far unexplained - that among pairs of events, bits of space, places, and particles of existence, we can usually judge that one has a greater degree of life and the other less, at least according to our feeling.quote0.803
  Summarizes the empirical bedrock of the whole argument.