--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fluidity and discontinuity are central to…" description: "\"Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.\" — Mary Catherine Bateson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png" --- # Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in… ![“Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png) > “Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.” [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reality is fluid and discontinuous, meaning change and gaps are inherent to existence. **In simple terms:** Life is changeable and broken. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty. Themes change uncertainty philosophy Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative work - problem solving - personal adaptation Key Concepts systems theory complexity Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate gaps in knowledge? - What benefits arise from fluid thinking? A Different Perspective Continuous change can cause anxiety and indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discontinuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontinuity/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [I've lived in a preindustrial (rural Argentina) as well as an industrial world. You experience a different sense of time in a community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/i-ve-lived-in-a-preindustrial-rural-argentina-as-well-as-an/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [Reminiscences, even extensive ones, do not always amount to an autobiography. For autobiography has to do with time, with sequence and what makes up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/reminiscences-even-extensive-ones-do-not-always-amount-to-an/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Certainly, it may bring to light such a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter as to constitute a veritable discontinuity in the progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-lawrence/certainly-it-may-bring-to-light-such-a-deeper-knowledge-of-the/) [Ernest Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-lawrence/) > [The draw by stalemate looks like a spot of discontinuity in the otherwise harmonious universe of values. To save a game by letting yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihail-marin/the-draw-by-stalemate-looks-like-a-spot-of-discontinuity-in-the/) Mihail Marin > [“Giving up isn't a deed. It is 'discontinuity' of a deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/giving-up-isn-t-a-deed-it-is-discontinuity-of-a-deed/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The problem, thus, is not whether or not women are to combine marriage and motherhood with work or career but how they are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-bernard/the-problem-thus-is-not-whether-or-not-women-are-to-combine-marriage/) Jessie Bernard > [Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-discontinuities-are/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [If historians of philosophy are to be divided into those who focus on discontinuities and those who focus on continuities, I belong in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-fine/if-historians-of-philosophy-are-to-be-divided-into-those-who-focus-on/) [Gail Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-fine/) > [Everything is shared by everything else; there are no discontinuities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sommer/everything-is-shared-by-everything-else-there-are-no-discontinuities/) [Frederick Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sommer/) > [Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that numbers can conceivably be accurate because there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/numbers-are-the-product-of-counting-quantities-are-the-product-of/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [The United States is in the midst of many spirited political debates about national priorities and public spending... However, we have found that science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gibbons/the-united-states-is-in-the-midst-of-many-spirited-political-debates/) John Gibbons > [...a discontinuity, like a vacuum, is abhorred by nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-hotelling/a-discontinuity-like-a-vacuum-is-abhorred-by-nature/) Harold Hotelling > [A lone peak of high point is a natural focal point in the landscape, something by which both travelers and local orient themselves. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-lone-peak-of-high-point-is-a-natural-focal-point-in-the-landscape/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Detach the writer from the milieu where he has experienced his greatest sense of belonging, and you have created a discontinuity within his personality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-roth/detach-the-writer-from-the-milieu-where-he-has-experienced-his/) Henry Roth > [You can't really discover the most interesting conflicts and problems in a subject until you've tried to write about them. At that point, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-f-c-wallace/you-can-t-really-discover-the-most-interesting-conflicts-and-problems/) Anthony F. C. Wallace ## More by Mary Catherine Bateson > [“It's all about being in control of myself as an older woman who lives alone, and it's all about how I am going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/it-s-all-about-being-in-control-of-myself-as-an-older-woman-who-lives/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [The critical question about regret is whether experience led to growth and new learning. Some people seem to keep on making the same mistakes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/the-critical-question-about-regret-is-whether-experience-led-to/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [Monotony and repetition are characteristic of many parts of life, but these do not become sources of conscious discomfort until novelty and entertainment are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/monotony-and-repetition-are-characteristic-of-many-parts-of-life-but/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [ “ We never promised we would stay the same,/But only we would shape our change/From this now single clay. \[p. 82\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/we-never-promised-we-would-stay-the-same-but-only-we-would-shape-our/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Moving is both liberating and debilitating. Undertaken too late, it is a very stressful process, one that sometimes seems to catapult people into frail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/moving-is-both-liberating-and-debilitating-undertaken-too-late-it-is/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [Improvisation and new learning are not private processes; they are shared with others at every age. We are called to join in a dance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/improvisation-and-new-learning-are-not-private-processes-they-are/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Real winners in a rapidly changing world will be those who are open to alternatives and able to respect and value those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/real-winners-in-a-rapidly-changing-world-will-be-those-who-are-open/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Self-care should include the cold shower as well as the scented tub.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/self-care-should-include-the-cold-shower-as-well-as-the-scented-tub/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [A suprising number of physicians manage to continue to care about persons even after the rigors of medical training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/a-suprising-number-of-physicians-manage-to-continue-to-care-about/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [Worlds can be found by a child and an adult bending down and looking together under the grass stems or at the skittering crabs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/worlds-can-be-found-by-a-child-and-an-adult-bending-down-and-looking/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Physical things are eloquent tokens of ideas,enriched by new meanings through time even when the tokens are no more than evanescent paper representations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/physical-things-are-eloquent-tokens-of-ideas-enriched-by-new-meanings/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [Often continuity is visible only in retrospect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/often-continuity-is-visible-only-in-retrospect/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [When parents die, all of the partings of the past are reevoked with the realization that this time they will not return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/when-parents-die-all-of-the-partings-of-the-past-are-reevoked-with/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Since few people arrive at retirement with an understanding that this transition will involve a rethinking of who they are, an interim pattern has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/since-few-people-arrive-at-retirement-with-an-understanding-that-this/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“After all, most of us have lived lives based on commitments made without any way of knowing where they would lead. The uncertainty is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/after-all-most-of-us-have-lived-lives-based-on-commitments-made/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) [Explore all 59 Mary Catherine Bateson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) ## More Discontinuity quotes > [I've lived in a preindustrial (rural Argentina) as well as an industrial world. You experience a different sense of time in a community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/i-ve-lived-in-a-preindustrial-rural-argentina-as-well-as-an/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [Detach the writer from the milieu where he has experienced his greatest sense of belonging, and you have created a discontinuity within his personality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-roth/detach-the-writer-from-the-milieu-where-he-has-experienced-his/) Henry Roth > [A lone peak of high point is a natural focal point in the landscape, something by which both travelers and local orient themselves. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-lone-peak-of-high-point-is-a-natural-focal-point-in-the-landscape/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [...a discontinuity, like a vacuum, is abhorred by nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-hotelling/a-discontinuity-like-a-vacuum-is-abhorred-by-nature/) Harold Hotelling > [The United States is in the midst of many spirited political debates about national priorities and public spending... However, we have found that science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gibbons/the-united-states-is-in-the-midst-of-many-spirited-political-debates/) John Gibbons > [Numbers are the product of counting. Quantities are the product of measurement. This means that numbers can conceivably be accurate because there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/numbers-are-the-product-of-counting-quantities-are-the-product-of/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Everything is shared by everything else; there are no discontinuities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sommer/everything-is-shared-by-everything-else-there-are-no-discontinuities/) [Frederick Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sommer/) > [If historians of philosophy are to be divided into those who focus on discontinuities and those who focus on continuities, I belong in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-fine/if-historians-of-philosophy-are-to-be-divided-into-those-who-focus-on/) [Gail Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-fine/) > [Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-discontinuities-are/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [The problem, thus, is not whether or not women are to combine marriage and motherhood with work or career but how they are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-bernard/the-problem-thus-is-not-whether-or-not-women-are-to-combine-marriage/) Jessie Bernard > [“Giving up isn't a deed. It is 'discontinuity' of a deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/giving-up-isn-t-a-deed-it-is-discontinuity-of-a-deed/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The draw by stalemate looks like a spot of discontinuity in the otherwise harmonious universe of values. To save a game by letting yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihail-marin/the-draw-by-stalemate-looks-like-a-spot-of-discontinuity-in-the/) Mihail Marin > [Certainly, it may bring to light such a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter as to constitute a veritable discontinuity in the progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-lawrence/certainly-it-may-bring-to-light-such-a-deeper-knowledge-of-the/) [Ernest Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-lawrence/) > [Reminiscences, even extensive ones, do not always amount to an autobiography. For autobiography has to do with time, with sequence and what makes up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/reminiscences-even-extensive-ones-do-not-always-amount-to-an/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [You can't really discover the most interesting conflicts and problems in a subject until you've tried to write about them. At that point, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-f-c-wallace/you-can-t-really-discover-the-most-interesting-conflicts-and-problems/) Anthony F. C. Wallace [Browse all 34 Discontinuity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontinuity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Catherine Bateson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-to-the-reality-in-which-we-live/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discontinuity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-to-the-reality-in-which-we-live/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_discontinuity_fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-t_2780442.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.” — Mary Catherine Bateson", "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": "Mary Catherine Bateson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fluidity and discontinuity are central to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-to-the-reality-in-which-we-live/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/fluidity-and-discontinuity-are-central-to-the-reality-in-which-we-live/#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 } } ] } ```