--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A living body is not a fixed thing but a…" description: "\"A living body is not a fixed thing but a flowing event, like a flame or a whirlpool: the shape alone is stable, for the substance is a stream of energy..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/alan-watts-587_air_a-living-body-is-not-a-fixed-thing-but-a_2485029.jpg" --- # A living body is not a fixed thing but a flowing event… ![“A living body is not a fixed thing but a flowing event, like a flame or a whirlpool: the shape alone is stable, for the substance is a stream of energy going in at one end and out at the other. We are particularly and temporarily identifiable wiggles in a stream that enters us in the form of…” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/alan-watts-587_air_a-living-body-is-not-a-fixed-thing-but-a_2485029.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/alan-watts-587_air_a-living-body-is-not-a-fixed-thing-but-a_2485029.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/alan-watts-587_air_a-living-body-is-not-a-fixed-thing-but-a_2485029.jpg) > “A living body is not a fixed thing but a flowing event, like a flame or a whirlpool: the shape alone is stable, for the substance is a stream of energy going in at one end and out at the other. We are particularly and temporarily identifiable wiggles in a stream that enters us in the form of light, heat, air, water, milk, bread, fruit, beer, beef Stroganoff, caviar, and pate de foie gras. It goes out as gas and excrement - and also as semen, babies, talk, politics, commerce, war, poetry, and music. And philosophy.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence is a dynamic flow of energy, not a static object; we are temporary patterns in a continuous stream of matter and experience. **In simple terms:** We are ever‑changing energy patterns, not fixed things. Key Takeaway Embrace change and the flow of life. Themes impermanence energy identity interconnectedness Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - environmental stewardship - creative work - relationships - health Key Concepts process philosophy systems theory ecology Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing impermanence affect your daily choices? - What stable practices can coexist with constant change? A Different Perspective It may overlook the need for stable structures in society. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby/) [Baby talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby-talk/) [Beer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beer/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Caviar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caviar/) [Commerce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commerce/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Flowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowing/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Poetry and music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-and-music/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Whirlpools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whirlpools/) ## Related quotes > [A living body is not a fixed thing, but a flowing event, like a flame or a whirlpool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-living-body-is-not-a-fixed-thing-but-a-flowing-event-like-a-flame/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The symbols of the self arise in the depths of the body, and they express its materiality every bit as much as the perceiving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-symbols-of-the-self-arise-in-the-depths-of-the-body-and-they/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“It looked like precisely the sort of place where a living body might go if it wanted to become a dead one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ritter/it-looked-like-precisely-the-sort-of-place-where-a-living-body-might/) [William Ritter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ritter/) > [Every city is a living body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/every-city-is-a-living-body/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [“If you can be aware that you have a living body, and notice when there's tension in your body, that's already an important insight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-you-can-be-aware-that-you-have-a-living-body-and-notice-when-there/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [The # cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-cosmos-is-a-vast-living-body-of-which-we-are-still-parts/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The living body is intelligent beyond our understanding; it is incomprehensibly intelligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-diamond/the-living-body-is-intelligent-beyond-our-understanding-it-is/) Harvey Diamond > [“She began to understand why lovers talk baby talk to one another. There was no other socially acceptable circumstance in which the children inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/she-began-to-understand-why-lovers-talk-baby-talk-to-one-another/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A grandparent is old on the outside but young on the inside. If your baby is "beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-bloomingdale/a-grandparent-is-old-on-the-outside-but-young-on-the-inside-if-your/) [Teresa Bloomingdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-bloomingdale/) > [Oh baby when you talk like that. You make a woman go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/oh-baby-when-you-talk-like-that-you-make-a-woman-go-mad/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [When I was a kid, I hated being talked to as a kid. I don't know if all kids feel that way, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-feldman/when-i-was-a-kid-i-hated-being-talked-to-as-a-kid-i-don-t-know-if-all/) [Michael Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-feldman/) > [I abhor 'baby talk.' I speak to kids like I would any other person, and they seem to respond to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-sommer/i-abhor-baby-talk-i-speak-to-kids-like-i-would-any-other-person-and/) [Rich Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-sommer/) > [The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain't like he knows the cure for cancer and just ain't spitting it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-halpern/the-baby-will-talk-when-he-talks-relax-it-ain-t-like-he-knows-the/) [Justin Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-halpern/) > [“Every journey we take begins with baby steps, baby talk and it helps us to grow healthy and strong towards our different fields we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/every-journey-we-take-begins-with-baby-steps-baby-talk-and-it-helps/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [“A mother can translate baby-talk: she comprehends incomprehensible noises. Even so doth our Father in heaven know all about our poor baby talk, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/a-mother-can-translate-baby-talk-she-comprehends-incomprehensible/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. 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The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A living body is not a fixed thing but a flowing event, like a flame or a whirlpool: the shape alone is stable, for the substance is a stream of energy going in at one end and out at the other. We are particularly and temporarily identifiable wiggles in a stream that enters us in the form of light, heat, air, water, milk, bread, fruit, beer, beef Stroganoff, caviar, and pate de foie gras. 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