--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a stream, a succession of…" description: "\"There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling, of desire, of deliberat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png" --- # There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or… ![“There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling, of desire, of deliberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and that constitute our inner life.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png) > “There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling, of desire, of deliberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and that constitute our inner life.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our inner experience is a continuous flow of mental events that shape our sense of self. **In simple terms:** Mind is a flowing stream of thoughts and feelings. Key Takeaway Observe and accept the ever‑changing mental landscape. Themes psychology consciousness self mindfulness Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - therapy - creative writing - self‑reflection Key Concepts phenomenology stream of consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing mental flow affect self‑knowledge? - What practices help navigate rapid mental changes? A Different Perspective The flow can be chaotic, making focus difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deliberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deliberation/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Inner life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-life/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Succession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succession/) [Waves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waves/) ## Related quotes > [Total knowledge is annihilation of the desire to see, to touch, to feel the world sensed only through senses and immune to the knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/total-knowledge-is-annihilation-of-the-desire-to-see-to-touch-to-feel/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [I do not believe that any man can adequately appreciate the world of to-day unless he has some knowledge of -- a little more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-do-not-believe-that-any-man-can-adequately-appreciate-the-world-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [More appealing than knowledge itself is the feeling of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/more-appealing-than-knowledge-itself-is-the-feeling-of-knowledge/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-no-more-miserable-human-being-than-one-in-whom-nothing-is/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-have-grown-literally-afraid-to-be-poor-we-despise-anyone-who/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“I'm in a hole because at some point I found a shovel and started digging. Maybe I should trade my shovels for ladders and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-m-in-a-hole-because-at-some-point-i-found-a-shovel-and-started/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/study-without-reflection-is-a-waste-of-time-reflection-without-study/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [The Red Cross in its nature, it aims and purposes, and consequently, its methods, is unlike any other organization in the country.It is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-barton/the-red-cross-in-its-nature-it-aims-and-purposes-and-consequently-its/) [Clara Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-barton/) > [The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is wise, and, when time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-individual-is-foolish-the-multitude-for-the-moment-is-foolish/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [So with truth - there is a certain moment when one can say, this is the truth and here I put a dot, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-yehoshua/so-with-truth-there-is-a-certain-moment-when-one-can-say-this-is-the/) [A. B. Yehoshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-yehoshua/) > [Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/deliberation-and-debate-is-the-way-you-stir-the-soul-of-our-democracy/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [I should esteem it the extreme of imprudence to prolong the precarious state of our national affairs, and to expose the Union to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/i-should-esteem-it-the-extreme-of-imprudence-to-prolong-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/the-great-constitutional-corrective-in-the-hands-of-the-people/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) > [Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/life-is-not-long-and-too-much-of-it-must-not-pass-in-idle/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Meaning coming from feeling, feeling coming from within, you absorb a massive amount of information, it goes through your whole body, a little bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-henson/meaning-coming-from-feeling-feeling-coming-from-within-you-absorb-a/) [Bill Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-henson/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Deliberation quotes > [Meaning coming from feeling, feeling coming from within, you absorb a massive amount of information, it goes through your whole body, a little bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-henson/meaning-coming-from-feeling-feeling-coming-from-within-you-absorb-a/) [Bill Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-henson/) > [Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/life-is-not-long-and-too-much-of-it-must-not-pass-in-idle/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/the-great-constitutional-corrective-in-the-hands-of-the-people/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) > [I should esteem it the extreme of imprudence to prolong the precarious state of our national affairs, and to expose the Union to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/i-should-esteem-it-the-extreme-of-imprudence-to-prolong-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/deliberation-and-debate-is-the-way-you-stir-the-soul-of-our-democracy/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [So with truth - there is a certain moment when one can say, this is the truth and here I put a dot, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-yehoshua/so-with-truth-there-is-a-certain-moment-when-one-can-say-this-is-the/) [A. B. Yehoshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-yehoshua/) > [The individual is foolish; the multitude, for the moment is foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is wise, and, when time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-individual-is-foolish-the-multitude-for-the-moment-is-foolish/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The Red Cross in its nature, it aims and purposes, and consequently, its methods, is unlike any other organization in the country.It is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-barton/the-red-cross-in-its-nature-it-aims-and-purposes-and-consequently-its/) [Clara Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-barton/) > [Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/study-without-reflection-is-a-waste-of-time-reflection-without-study/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-no-more-miserable-human-being-than-one-in-whom-nothing-is/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“I'm in a hole because at some point I found a shovel and started digging. Maybe I should trade my shovels for ladders and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-m-in-a-hole-because-at-some-point-i-found-a-shovel-and-started/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I am sorry they began their deliberations by so abominable a precedent as that of tying up the tongues of their members. Nothing can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-sorry-they-began-their-deliberations-by-so-abominable-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing can be more unphilosophical than to be positive or dogmatical on any subject; and even if excessive scepticism could be maintained it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/nothing-can-be-more-unphilosophical-than-to-be-positive-or-dogmatical/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“A product should be made intentionally”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/a-product-should-be-made-intentionally/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I am mistaken if a single epigram included fails to preserve at least some faint thrill of the emotion through which it had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-quiller-couch/i-am-mistaken-if-a-single-epigram-included-fails-to-preserve-at-least/) [Arthur Quiller-Couch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-quiller-couch/) [Browse all 151 Deliberation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deliberation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling, of desire, of deliberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and that constitute our inner life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states-or-waves-or-fields-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deliberation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states-or-waves-or-fields-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/william-james-228_deliberation_there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states_735074.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of…” — William James", "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": "William James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is a stream, a succession...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states-or-waves-or-fields-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-a-stream-a-succession-of-states-or-waves-or-fields-or/#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 } } ] } ```