---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Speech is as a pump, by which we raise…"
description: "\"Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the water from the great lake of Thought,--whither it flows back again.\" — John Sterling"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg"
---

#  Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the…

![“Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the water from the great lake of Thought,--whither it flows back again.” quote by John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg)

> “Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the water from the great lake of Thought,--whither it flows back again.”

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Thought flows like water, pumped out and returning, shaping ideas.

**In simple terms:** Ideas move like water.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate reflective thinking.

Themes

creativity philosophy communication

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- writing
- brainstorming
- meditation
- public speaking

Key Concepts

flow mind expression

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you refresh your mental flow?
- What drains your creative well?

A Different Perspective

Ideas can stagnate without renewal.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Great lakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-lakes/) [Lakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lakes/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/)

## Related quotes

> [“One young fellow pointed to another steamer in the distance, and said it was the Lady of the Lake, a United States vessel which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/one-young-fellow-pointed-to-another-steamer-in-the-distance-and-said/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Stranger: 'Are not thought and speech the same, with this exception, that what is called thought is the unuttered conversation of the soul with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/stranger-are-not-thought-and-speech-the-same-with-this-exception-that/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some, no memory survives the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-stream-of-thought-flows-on-but-most-of-its-segments-fall-into-the/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [I’m dazzled by your facility. In ten days you’ll have written six stories! I don’t understand it… I’m like one of those old aqueducts:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/i-m-dazzled-by-your-facility-in-ten-days-you-ll-have-written-six/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [As the mind shrinks at the will of the initiate, thought flows in to fill the spaces so created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gardner/as-the-mind-shrinks-at-the-will-of-the-initiate-thought-flows-in-to/)

[Ian Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gardner/)

> [Here in the Great Lakes region, a fourth year in a row of declining water levels has caused millions of dollars in losses for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-egan/here-in-the-great-lakes-region-a-fourth-year-in-a-row-of-declining/)

[Timothy Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-egan/)

> [In order that he might rob a neighbour whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel and red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-order-that-he-might-rob-a-neighbour-whom-he-had-promised-to-defend/)

[Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/)

> [“Sandy beaches still rim the lakes, but if Lake Michigan, for example, were drained it would now be possible to walk almost the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-egan/sandy-beaches-still-rim-the-lakes-but-if-lake-michigan-for-example/)

Dan Egan

> [“They are the largest collection of freshwater lakes in the world. They border eight U.S. states and the Canadian Providence of Ontario and at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-magsamen/they-are-the-largest-collection-of-freshwater-lakes-in-the-world-they/)

[Susan Magsamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-magsamen/)

> [Born in the Flint, Michigan, big boat sailing on the Great Lakes and skiing in the winter was how most of my youth was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-rice/born-in-the-flint-michigan-big-boat-sailing-on-the-great-lakes-and/)

[Doug Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-rice/)

> [The insecticides kill the black flies, but also destroy much of the food chain for the bird, fish, and animal life which also inhabit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-insecticides-kill-the-black-flies-but-also-destroy-much-of-the/)

[Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/)

> [We've got this proposal which has been languishing in the legislature, the Water Legacy Act, which is derived from a Republican task force on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/we-ve-got-this-proposal-which-has-been-languishing-in-the-legislature/)

[Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/)

> [I went camping one time when I was twelve, to the Great Lakes. My friend stepped in really deep muddy water and started screaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-reedus/i-went-camping-one-time-when-i-was-twelve-to-the-great-lakes-my/)

[Norman Reedus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-reedus/)

> [As a Michigan senator, I feel a special responsibility to protect the Great Lakes. They are not only a source of clean drinking water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-stabenow/as-a-michigan-senator-i-feel-a-special-responsibility-to-protect-the/)

[Debbie Stabenow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-stabenow/)

> [I grew up in a theater family. My father was a regional theater classical repertory producer. He created Shakespeare festivals. He produced all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/i-grew-up-in-a-theater-family-my-father-was-a-regional-theater/)

[John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/)

## More by John Sterling

> [“Wisdom’s Pearl doth often dwell Closed in Fancy’s rainbow shell”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/wisdom-s-pearl-doth-often-dwell-closed-in-fancy-s-rainbow-shell/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Modern education too often covers the fingers with rings, and at the same time cuts the sinews at the wrist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/modern-education-too-often-covers-the-fingers-with-rings-and-at-the/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Like earth, awake, and warm, and bright With joy the spirit moves and burns; So up to thee! O Fount of Light! Our light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/like-earth-awake-and-warm-and-bright-with-joy-the-spirit-moves-and/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Every man's follies are the caricature resemblances of his wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/every-man-s-follies-are-the-caricature-resemblances-of-his-wisdom/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Knowledge, or more expressively truth,--for knowledge is truth received into our intelligence,--truth is an ideal whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/knowledge-or-more-expressively-truth-for-knowledge-is-truth-received/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Of all the tyrants the world affords, our own affections are the fiercest lords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/of-all-the-tyrants-the-world-affords-our-own-affections-are-the/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [You just cant predict baseball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/you-just-cant-predict-baseball/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Toil, feel, think, hope; you will be sure to dream enough before you die, without arranging for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/toil-feel-think-hope-you-will-be-sure-to-dream-enough-before-you-die/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [The worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/the-worst-education-which-teaches-self-denial-is-better-than-the-best/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [He stands in history as the completer of the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/he-stands-in-history-as-the-completer-of-the-globe/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [The ideal client is the very wealthy man in very great trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/the-ideal-client-is-the-very-wealthy-man-in-very-great-trouble/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Be busy in trading, receiving, and giving, for life is too good to be wasted in living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/be-busy-in-trading-receiving-and-giving-for-life-is-too-good-to-be/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Man is a substance clad in shadows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/man-is-a-substance-clad-in-shadows/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Every fancy that we would substitute for a reality is, if we saw aright, and saw the whole, not only false, but every way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/every-fancy-that-we-would-substitute-for-a-reality-is-if-we-saw/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Pain has its own noble joy, when it starts a strong consciousness of life, from a stagnant one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/pain-has-its-own-noble-joy-when-it-starts-a-strong-consciousness-of/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

[Explore all 33 John Sterling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

## More Back again quotes

> [Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/too-long-have-the-workers-of-the-world-waited-for-some-moses-to-lead/)

[Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/)

> [Don´t be unnecessarily burdened by the past. Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/don-t-be-unnecessarily-burdened-by-the-past-go-on-closing-the/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/)

[Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/)

> [You look out into the audience and you see so much joy on people's faces. You make eye contact with people who are almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-mcvie/you-look-out-into-the-audience-and-you-see-so-much-joy-on-people-s/)

[Christine McVie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-mcvie/)

> [Sometimes people hurt us unintentionally. We may view that they've hurt us intentionally and want revenge. But sometimes when we really look back again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-wright/sometimes-people-hurt-us-unintentionally-we-may-view-that-they-ve/)

[Cindy Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-wright/)

> [If we with earnest effort could succeed To make our life one long, connected prayer, As lives of some, perhaps, have been and are;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/if-we-with-earnest-effort-could-succeed-to-make-our-life-one-long/)

[Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/)

> [In a sermon entitled “God's Providence,” C. H. Spurgeon said, “Napoleon once heard it said, that man proposes and God disposes. 'Ah,' said Napoleon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/in-a-sermon-entitled-god-s-providence-c-h-spurgeon-said-napoleon-once/)

[Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/)

> [You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people and I'll build the business right back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/you-can-take-my-factories-burn-up-my-buildings-but-give-me-my-people/)

[Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/)

> [How long were the stretches of toilsome tacking back and forth, of being blocked, of being thrown back again and again. But all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-kollwitz/how-long-were-the-stretches-of-toilsome-tacking-back-and-forth-of/)

[Kathe Kollwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-kollwitz/)

> [I watched them from the window, thy children at their play, And I thought of all my own dear friends, who were far, oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-hugh-clough/i-watched-them-from-the-window-thy-children-at-their-play-and-i/)

[Arthur Hugh Clough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-hugh-clough/)

> [ \[My advice\] will one day be found With other relics of 'a former world,' When this world shall be former, underground, Thrown topsy-turvy, twisted,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/my-advice-will-one-day-be-found-with-other-relics-of-a-former-world/)

[Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/)

> [I laugh, that there's a certain kind of cyclical nature to life and that I don't have to worry because whatever isn't there right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-laugh-that-there-s-a-certain-kind-of-cyclical-nature-to-life-and/)

[Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/)

> [Home, I learned, can be anywhere you make it. Home is also the place to which you come back again and again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/home-i-learned-can-be-anywhere-you-make-it-home-is-also-the-place-to/)

[Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/)

> [To ask for power is forcing uphill a stone which after all rolls back again from the summit and seeks in headlong haste the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/to-ask-for-power-is-forcing-uphill-a-stone-which-after-all-rolls-back/)

[Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/)

> [It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way, themselves, of ever getting it back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are-so-terribly-afraid-of-losing/)

[Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/)

Browse all 160 Back again quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the water from the great lake of Thought,--whither it flows back again.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Sterling"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-and-pour-out-the-water-from-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Back again"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-and-pour-out-the-water-from-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/john-sterling-18985_back-again_speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-an_3110140.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Speech is as a pump, by which we raise and pour out the water from the great lake of Thought,--whither it…” — John Sterling",
                "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": "John Sterling",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Speech is as a pump, by...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-and-pour-out-the-water-from-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/speech-is-as-a-pump-by-which-we-raise-and-pour-out-the-water-from-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
