--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are at war between consciousness and…" description: "\"We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It is ourself against ourselves.\" — Alan Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg" --- # We are at war between consciousness and nature, between… ![“We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It is ourself against ourselves.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg) > “We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It is ourself against ourselves.” [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 conflict arises from opposing desires for stability and change, creating internal struggle. **In simple terms:** We fight ourselves over wanting permanence versus accepting change. Key Takeaway Embrace change, release the need for permanence. Themes philosophy psychology existence Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - mindfulness practice - career decisions - relationship dynamics Key Concepts impermanence self conflict acceptance Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance desire for stability with life's flux? - What internal conflicts arise from this tension? A Different Perspective Change is inevitable; resisting it can cause suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Consciousness Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness-nature-752403/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Permanence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-permanence-4341295/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Flux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flux/) [Flux Ourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flux-ourself-4341294/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Permanence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanence/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-consciousness-323195/) ## Related quotes > ["The War on Consciousness" is really all physical manifestations and all those problems are ultimately just a war on your way of thinking. Especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mcgwire/the-war-on-consciousness-is-really-all-physical-manifestations-and/) [Mark McGwire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mcgwire/) > [“The war consciousness is purposely cultivated to guide the male away from the natural, healthy balances between masculine and feminine energies, and toward more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/the-war-consciousness-is-purposely-cultivated-to-guide-the-male-away/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [There is no such thing as permanence at all. Everything is constantly changing. Everything is in a flux. Because you cannot face the impermanence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-g-krishnamurti/there-is-no-such-thing-as-permanence-at-all-everything-is-constantly/) [U.G. Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-g-krishnamurti/) > [The imagination ... that reconciling and mediatory power, which incorporating the reason in images of the sense and organizing (as it were) the flux…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-imagination-that-reconciling-and-mediatory-power-which/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Human beings were not well served by permanence or stasis. Obviously, if individuals were progressing, they were undergoing a series of presumably desirable alterations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/human-beings-were-not-well-served-by-permanence-or-stasis-obviously/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Consciousness is nature's nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/consciousness-is-nature-s-nightmare/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Consciousness is a being the nature of which is to be conscious of the nothingness of its being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/consciousness-is-a-being-the-nature-of-which-is-to-be-conscious-of/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Consciousness is part of our nature as sentient beings, but doesn’t mean we are aware at a particular moment. By perceiving our consciousness -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilchi-lee/consciousness-is-part-of-our-nature-as-sentient-beings-but-doesn-t/) [Ilchi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilchi-lee/) > [You may command Nature to the extent only in which you are willing to obey her. You cannot intelligently obey that which you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/you-may-command-nature-to-the-extent-only-in-which-you-are-willing-to-2/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [“The nature of one's own consciousness is the same as the nature of God and Godhead and, therefore, to know God, one must seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tau-malachi/the-nature-of-one-s-own-consciousness-is-the-same-as-the-nature-of/) [Tau Malachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tau-malachi/) > [The first serious consciousness of Nature's gesture - her attitude towards life-took form then as a phantasm, a nightmare, all insanity of force. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-first-serious-consciousness-of-nature-s-gesture-her-attitude/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Not only can nobody deny the appearance of mere consciousness whose nature is other-dependent and not affected by the flaw of conceptions of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-brunnholzl/not-only-can-nobody-deny-the-appearance-of-mere-consciousness-whose/) [Karl Brunnholzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-brunnholzl/) > [Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/markets-are-constantly-in-a-state-of-uncertainty-and-flux-and-money/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [“Surely the Gods did not bring me safe through fire and sea only to kill me with a flux.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/surely-the-gods-did-not-bring-me-safe-through-fire-and-sea-only-to/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [The body and mind are continually changing, and are, in fact, only names of series of changeful phenomena, like rivers whose waters are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-body-and-mind-are-continually-changing-and-are-in-fact-only-names/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## 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 Consciousness quotes > [“You're never alone if you're with your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-armond-powell/you-re-never-alone-if-you-re-with-your-soul/) [Gerard Armond Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-armond-powell/) > [“I now argue that entry into Upper Palaeolithic caves was probably seen as virtually indistinguishable from entry into the mental vortex that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/i-now-argue-that-entry-into-upper-palaeolithic-caves-was-probably/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [“People and situations always show us what we need to see and learn about ourselves, and when we take responsibility for our own feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/people-and-situations-always-show-us-what-we-need-to-see-and-learn/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-purpose-is-to-be-in-gratitude-forever-live-with-applied/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [So many people are passive participants in their very short time of having a consciousness, and those who aren't inspire me. Like Malala Yousafzai…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-gelulla/so-many-people-are-passive-participants-in-their-very-short-time-of/) [Dylan Gelulla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-gelulla/) > [Floating in and out of consciousness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/floating-in-and-out-of-consciousness/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [“The vision teller tells the vision to unguarded minds' of prey. The programmed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/the-vision-teller-tells-the-vision-to-unguarded-minds-of-prey-the/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Browse all 6,062 Consciousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It is ourself against ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and-nature-between-the-desire-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consciousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and-nature-between-the-desire-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alan-watts-587_consciousness_we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and_1311418.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are at war between consciousness and nature, between the desire for permanence and the fact of flux. It…” — Alan Watts", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are at war between consciousness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and-nature-between-the-desire-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-war-between-consciousness-and-nature-between-the-desire-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```