William James Quotes
An act has no ethical quality whatever unless it be chosen out of several all equally possible.William James
Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture.William James
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.William James
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely re - Arranging their prejudices.William James
The difference between a good man and a bad man is the choice of cause.William James
Only necessity understood, and bondage to the highest is identical with true freedom.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.William James
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they? ve got a second. Give your dreams all you? ve got and you? ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you!!William James
There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it.William James
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.William James
Human beings are born into this little span of life of which the best thing is its friendship and intimacies, and soon their places will know them no more, and yet they leave their friendships and intimacies with no cultivation, to grow as they will by the roadside, expecting them to keep by force of inertia.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.William James
The man whose acquisitions stick is the man who is always achieving and advancing whilst his neighbors, spending most of their time in relearning what they once knew but have forgotten, simply hold their own.William James
I believe there is no source of deception in the investigation of nature which can compare with a fixed belief that certain kinds of phenomena are impossible.William James
I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big success. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capil.William James
As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use.William James
There is only one thing that a philosopher can be relied on to do, and that is, to contradict other philosophers.William James
The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of many worlds of consciousness that exist.William James
The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.William James
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.William James
Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.William James
The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.William James
If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.William James
Our minds thus grow in spots and like grease spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible we keep unaltered as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and beliefs, as we can.William James
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.William James
Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.William James
The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.William James
This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it.William James
Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.William James
How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure.William James
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.William James
Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.William James
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.William James
The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some, no memory survives the instant of their passage. Of others, it is confined to a few moments, hours or days. Others, again, leave vestiges which are indestructible, and by means of which they may be recalled as long as life endures.William James
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.William James
He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed.William James
An idea, to be suggestive, must come to the individual with the force of revelation.William James
