It sounds like Confucius or some other Eastern thinker, but I don't know for sure.

I think probably someone really, really high must have said this.
I think it must have been someone from "The Spicoli School of Thought."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZQwnJTPh-M&feature=PlayList&p=0F3C8BFD2A8BFAC9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11

I think that quote more demonstrates perception rather than simple things resembling complex things. Not sure who said it, sorry.

I don't know who said it, but I am sure he must have been profound.

Stoner remarks aside, I think what you may be looking for came from the first few lines of William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence."

"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour."

I know it wasn't poetic. It was when I was in college. My chemistry professor was remarking on it. If I knew how to get ahold of that guy I would ask him. I don't think it was eastern but it could of been. It was a man of science. I can't remember but I remember him saying So and so said that if you compare a grain of sand under a microscope to the rocky mountains it looks the same. Same with sugar. If you allow it to crystalize naturally it makes rough cubes. Smash those cubes into powder and look at them under a microscope, Cubes again. I am in the army and I have to talk to my Squadron commander about something. I was going to tell him how you can take the behavior of a small unit and it will be almost a litmus of the greater army. Same way if you compare a single soldier to his platoon. I wanted to quote the guy and I can't remember who it was at all.........It seems like it was one of me mainstream thinkers.....greek, roman, renaissance. Not someone obscure at all but I could be totally wrong.

As you can see in how I am going to use this analogy it doesn't just apply to the physical world. You can use it as a great metaphor for behavior and belief, etc.

Anyone?

Great answers though. I freaking love this site.

I often hear a similar statement using the shoreline as an example. The variegated line of the shore is similar whether far above or zoomed in very close. Often this example is used with reference to fractals.

fractals! yeah now we're getting somewhere. Any idea whose noted for first noticing, talking about this?

The shoreline/fractal thing goes back to Benoit Mandelbrot. It's likely he said something similar about mountains and grains of sand. I'm thinking Mandelbrot might be the name you are looking for.

Thank you so much Deckard. I wasn't exactly looking for a quote just the guy that come up with the Idea. When I googled him I got quotes exactly "like" what I was saying. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

Opening lines of William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

Also, the Dalai Lama wrote a book called the Universe in a Single Atom which was about the Buddhist philosophy of Science.

I am the guy who said that a grain of sand in ones shoe can feel like a mountain if you step on it enough times..