Q0269

William James

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Consciousness…does not appear to itself chopped up in bits…It is nothing jointed; it flows.
Thinker William James
School Psychology
Source Principles of Psychology IX
Theme Self
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Principles of Psychology IX, within the tradition of Psychology. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In William James's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: William James. (n.d.). Consciousness…does not appear to itself chopped up in bits…It is nothing jointed; it flows. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0269

MLA: William James. “Consciousness…does not appear to itself chopped up in….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0269.

Chicago: William James. “Consciousness…does not appear to itself chopped up in….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0269.

Same thinker

More from William James

  1. Habit is the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent.
  2. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.
  3. Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events.
  4. The essential achievement of the will is to attend to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind.
  5. The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

All quotations by William James

Same theme

More on self

  1. A friend is another self.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. I searched for myself.
  4. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  5. Claim yourself for yourself.

Browse the self theme