1. ebb and flow - Noun
2. ebb and flow - Verb
The flowing out and in of the tide.
(figuratively) A large flowing out and in, or any waxing and waning of fortunes or activity.
To alternately ebb and flow, as:
(of the tides) To recede and advance.
(figuratively) To wax and wane.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgMost men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardship of life they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die. Seneca
Now all you can do is wait. It must be hard for you, but there is a right time for everything. Like the ebb and flow of tides. No one can do anything to change them. When it is time to wait, you must wait. Haruki Murakami
In the unceasing ebb and flow of justice and oppression we must all dig channels as best we may, that at the propitious moment somewhat of the swelling tide may be conducted to the barren places of life. Jane Addams
If there is one constant in the ebb and flow of our island story, it is the character of the British people. David Cameron
Indeed there has never been any explanation of the ebb and flow in our veins--of happiness and unhappiness. Virginia Woolf
Three things you cannot comprehend: the mind of a woman, the working of the bees, and the ebb and flow of the tide. Irish Proverb