We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It is ourself against ourselves.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Conflict arises between our desire for stability and the reality of constant change.
- In plain terms
- We fight nature because we want permanence but everything changes.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept change as natural instead of fighting it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you resist change?
- What if you let go?
Another view
Some resistance to change is healthy for safety and planning.
More from Alan Watts
Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unkno…
Permalink to quote #39 We are all basically scams and if you haven't found that - you are very unconscious. I know all sorts of people who are full of outward love, but of course it …
Permalink to quote #41 To the philosophers of India, however, Relativity is no new discovery, just as the concept of light years is no matter for astonishment to people used to think…
Permalink to quote #38
Related quotes
So fades a summer cloud away; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; So gently shuts the eye of day; So dies a wave along the shore.
Anna Letitia BarbauldAnna Letitia Barbauld quote #9 I have seen these ways of God: I know of no reason For fire and change and torture and the old returnings.
Robinson JeffersRobinson Jeffers quote #37 The appeal to heaven breaks off. The petals begin to fall, in self-forgiveness. It is a flower. On this mountainside it is dying.
Galway KinnellGalway Kinnell quote #2