--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our flesh is like silly putty that…" description: "\"“Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is ignored. We are constantly obliged to actively participate in its formation, or else it will dr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0e/deane-juhan-45476_quote_our-flesh-is-like-silly-putty-that-disto_795353.jpg" --- # Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is… ![“Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is ignored. We are constantly obliged to actively participate in its formation, or else it will droop of its own weight and plasticity. This incessant formation we cannot stop. We can only make the choice to let it go its own way - directed by…” quote by Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0e/deane-juhan-45476_quote_our-flesh-is-like-silly-putty-that-disto_795353.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0e/deane-juhan-45476_quote_our-flesh-is-like-silly-putty-that-disto_795353.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0e/deane-juhan-45476_quote_our-flesh-is-like-silly-putty-that-disto_795353.jpg) > ““Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is ignored. We are constantly obliged to actively participate in its formation, or else it will droop of its own weight and plasticity. This incessant formation we cannot stop. We can only make the choice to let it go its own way - directed by genetics, gravity, appetites, habits, the accidentals of our surroundings, and so on - or the choice to let our sensory awareness penetrate its processes, to be personally present in the midst of those processes with the full measure of our subjective, internal observations and responses, and to some degree direct the course of that formation. We do not have the option of remaining passively unchanged, and to believe for a moment in this illusion is to invite distortions and dysfunctions. Like putty, we are either shaping ourselves or we are drooping; like clay, we either keep ourselves moist and malleable or we are drying and hardening. We must do one or the other; we may not passively avoid the issue.”” [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human bodies and minds are constantly reshaped by active awareness; neglect leads to rigidity, while mindful engagement keeps us adaptable. **In simple terms:** We must actively shape ourselves or become rigid. Key Takeaway Choose mindful engagement over passive neglect. Themes self‑growth mindfulness adaptability Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily meditation - physical exercise - creative practice - stress management Key Concepts neuroplasticity embodiment habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How does daily awareness affect your habits? - What small actions keep you adaptable? A Different Perspective Passive neglect leads to loss of flexibility and health. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“Man is like putty. It's malleable in the governments hands and when we dry up of money, we're thrown away”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-stevens/man-is-like-putty-it-s-malleable-in-the-governments-hands-and-when-we/) Cole Stevens > [“Your faith is like putty. How easily you mold it to your own desires.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-moggach/your-faith-is-like-putty-how-easily-you-mold-it-to-your-own-desires/) [Deborah Moggach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-moggach/) > [“It were the sort of mist that soaked into your flesh, into your being, so it were like you were one with it...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nowra/it-were-the-sort-of-mist-that-soaked-into-your-flesh-into-your-being/) [Louis Nowra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nowra/) > [I want 'Flesh Of My Flesh' to be like my connection to the community, I want to say what's on my peoples' minds, soak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmx/i-want-flesh-of-my-flesh-to-be-like-my-connection-to-the-community-i/) [DMX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmx/) > [“This body is like the earth. Our bones are like mountains. Our belly is like the sea. Our flesh is like the dust and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shems-friedlander/this-body-is-like-the-earth-our-bones-are-like-mountains-our-belly-is/) Shems Friedlander > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, He's one of a kind of the 13 billions of people who have ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/if-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-in-human-flesh-he-s-one-of-a-kind-of-the/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) Harold McGee > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) ## More by Deane Juhan > [Soothing touch, whether it be applied to a ruffled cat, a crying infant, or a frightened child, has a universally recognized power to ameliorate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/soothing-touch-whether-it-be-applied-to-a-ruffled-cat-a-crying-infant/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [Movement is the unifying bond between the mind and the body, and sensations are the substance of that bond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/movement-is-the-unifying-bond-between-the-mind-and-the-body-and/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [The principals in elegantly simple. We learn to love by being loved, we learn gentleness by being gentled, we learn to be graceful by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/the-principals-in-elegantly-simple-we-learn-to-love-by-being-loved-we/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [By rubbing up against the world, I define myself to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/by-rubbing-up-against-the-world-i-define-myself-to-myself/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [Touching hands are not like pharmaceuticals or scalpels. They are like flashlights in a darkened room. The medicine they administer is self-awareness. And for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/touching-hands-are-not-like-pharmaceuticals-or-scalpels-they-are-like/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [To touch the surface is to stir the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/to-touch-the-surface-is-to-stir-the-depths/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [The skin is no more separated from the brain than the surface of a lake is separate from its depths; the two are different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/the-skin-is-no-more-separated-from-the-brain-than-the-surface-of-a/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [Enduring faith is not blind or obedient, it is keenly attentive and responsible; it is not fed by awe, but by quickening interest; prosperity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/enduring-faith-is-not-blind-or-obedient-it-is-keenly-attentive-and/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) [Explore all 9 Deane Juhan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) ## More Flesh quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) Harold McGee > [If Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, He's one of a kind of the 13 billions of people who have ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/if-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-in-human-flesh-he-s-one-of-a-kind-of-the/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Paul closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. In spite of everything, it was hard not to take solace from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/paul-closed-his-eyes-and-turned-his-face-to-the-sun-in-spite-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health. Considerably more than three parts of the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-booth/it-is-a-great-delusion-to-suppose-that-flesh-meat-of-any-kind-is/) [Catherine Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-booth/) > [You asked me once if I would still love you when your lips were puckered with age and your eyes were faded. I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/you-asked-me-once-if-i-would-still-love-you-when-your-lips-were/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [What do you mean 'we,' flesh-tube?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bender-the-cartoon-character/what-do-you-mean-we-flesh-tube/) [Bender (The Cartoon Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bender-the-cartoon-character/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) Browse all 2,061 Flesh quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is ignored. 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