Famous William James Quotes
To be a real philosopher all that is necessary is to hate some one else’s type of thinking.
William James
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.
William James
Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
William James
Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.
William James
Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake.
William James
Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.
William James
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
William James
Metaphysics means nothing but an unusually obstinate effort to think clearly.
William James
Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.
William James
Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
William James
If the grace of God miraculously operates, it probably operates through the subliminal door.
William James
Man can alter his life by altering his thinking.
William James
He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed.
William James
Our faith is faith in someone else’s faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
William James
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.
William James
Our esteem for facts has not neutralized in us all religiousness. It is itself almost religious. Our scientific temper is devout.
William James
If merely ‘feeling good’ could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience.
William James
The function of ignoring, of inattention, is as vital a factor in mental progress as the function of attention itself.
William James
The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments.
William James
If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.
William James
Man lives for science as well as bread.
William James
To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one’s being added to that being.
William James
If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.
William James
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
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; if sad, it must not scream or curse.
William James
The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.
William James
