D Bohm

Here are some of David Bohm’s most profound quotes—on consciousness, thought, wholeness, and the nature of reality—supported by respected sources:

🌌 On Consciousness & Wholeness

“Deep down the consciousness of mankind is one. This is a virtual certainty because even in the vacuum matter is one; and if we don’t see this, it’s because we are blinding ourselves to it.”

— David Bohm (on shared consciousness and cosmic unity) 

“Consciousness is much more of the implicate order than is matter… Yet at a deeper level [matter and consciousness] are actually inseparable and interwoven, just as in the computer game the player and the screen are united by participation.”

— David Bohm (highlighting the intertwining of mind and matter) 

“…consciousness is a coherent whole, which is never static or complete, but which is in an unending process of movement and unfoldment.”

— David Bohm

🧠 On Thought & Perception

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”

— David Bohm (on superficial thinking) 

“The ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained.”

— David Bohm (valuing perspective over facts) 

“Then there is the further question of what is the relationship of thinking to reality. As careful attention shows, thought itself is in an actual process of movement.”

— David Bohm (on the dynamic nature of thought)

“Thought is constantly creating problems that way and then trying to solve them. But as it tries to solve them it makes it worse because it doesn’t notice that it’s creating them…”

— David Bohm (on how thought perpetuates conflict) 

“Thought creates our world, and then says ‘I didn’t do it.’”

— David Bohm (on thought’s self-deception) 

🗣️ On Dialogue & Culture

“Real dialogue is where two or more people become willing to suspend their certainty in each other’s presence.”

— David Bohm (on the purpose and mechanism of Bohm Dialogue) 

“Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and self-deception. Would this not constitute a real revolution in culture?”

— David Bohm (on transforming culture through dialogue) 

🔄 On Wholeness & Reality

“Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness.”

— David Bohm (on the paradox of true individuality) 

“In some sense man is a microcosm of the universe: therefore what man is, is a clue to the universe. We are enfolded in the universe.”

— David Bohm (on the interconnection between human and cosmos)

“Space is not empty. It is full, a plenum as opposed to a vacuum, and is the ground for the existence of everything, including ourselves. The universe is not separate from this cosmic sea of energy.”

— David Bohm (on the nature of space and energy) 

“One thus sees that a new kind of theory is needed which drops these basic commitments and at most recovers some essential features of the older theories as abstract forms derived from a deeper reality in which what prevails is unbroken wholeness.”

— David Bohm (on a shift toward wholeness in scientific theory) 

🪞 Bonus Insight from Bohm’s Collaborators & Dialogues

“Thought is a material process in time as measurement.”

— David Bohm (via reflection on Krishnamurti’s teachings) 

“The illusion that the self and the world are broken into fragments originates in the kind of thought that goes beyond its proper measure…”

— David Bohm (on the root of fragmentation in thought) 

These quotes aren’t just words—they reflect Bohm’s deep inquiry into how consciousness, thought, and dialogue shape our experience of reality. Want quotes grouped by categories (e.g. dialogue, unity, perception), or integrated into a narrative about Bohm’s philosophy? Let me know!