'Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself as chopped up in bits. Such words as 'chain' or 'train' do not describe it fitly [...] It is nothing joined; it flows. A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talking of it hereafter, let's call it the stream of thought, consciousness, or subjective life.' ( from William James's 'The Principles of Psychology', 1890)