William James Quotes

The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it... view

By: William James

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision... view

By: William James

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self... view

By: William James

There is an organic affinity between joyousness and tenderness, and their companionship in the saintly life need in no way occasion surprise... view

By: William James

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds... view

By: William James

The world is all the richer for having a devil in it, so long as we keep our foot upon his neck... view

By: William James

The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour... view

By: William James

The sovereign cure for worry is prayer... view

By: William James

The ideas gained by men before they are twenty-five are practically the only ideas they shall have in their lives... view

By: William James

The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments... view

By: William James

The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioned our characters in the wrong way... view

By: William James

Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results... view

By: William James

The aim of a college education is to teach you to know a good man when you see one... view

By: William James

The 'I think' which Kant said must be able to accompany all my objects, is the 'I breathe' which actually does accompany them... view

By: William James

We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause... view

By: William James

The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths... view

By: William James

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes... view

By: William James

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it... view

By: William James

The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business. He cannot accommodate his processes to the convenience of individuals... view

By: William James

The essence of genius is to know what to overlook... view

By: William James

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated... view

By: William James

The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community... view

By: William James

The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one... view

By: William James

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook... view

By: William James

There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers... view

By: William James

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another... view

By: William James

We are doomed to cling to a life even while we find it unendurable... view

By: William James

Individuality is founded in feeling.. view

By: William James

'Pure experience' is the name I gave to the immediate flux of life which furnishes the material to our later reflection with its conceptual categories... view

By: William James

Wisdom is learning what to overlook... view

By: William James

Why should we think upon things that are lovely? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings... view

By: William James

Where quality is the thing sought after, the thing of supreme quality is cheap, whatever the price one has to pay for it... view

By: William James

Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude... view

By: William James

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice... view

By: William James

Whatever universe a professor believes in must at any rate be a universe that lends itself to lengthy discourse. A universe definable in two sentences is something for which the professorial intellect has no use. No faith in anything of that cheap kind!.. view

By: William James

What every genuine philosopher (every genuine man, in fact) craves most is praise although the philosophers generally call it recognition!.. view

By: 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... view

By: William James

Truth is what works... view

By: William James

We don't laugh because we're happy - we're happy because we laugh... view

By: William James

There must be something solemn, serious, and tender about any attitude which we denominate religious. If glad, it must not grin or snicker.. view

By: William James

Truth lives, in fact, for the most part on a credit system. Our thoughts and beliefs pass, so long as nothing challenges them, just as bank-notes pass so long as nobody refuses them... view

By: William James

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal... view

By: William James