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William James

55 quotes

William James (1842–1910) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and the first educator to offer a course in psychology in the United States. Often called the "Father of American Psychology," James was a leading thinker in pragmatism and functionalism whose ideas about consciousness, habit, and belief continue to influence philosophy and psychology.

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“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.”

— William James

Nature

All Quotes by William James

“Individuality is founded in feeling and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is actually done.”

— William James

Work

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

— William James

Great

“To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.”

— William James

Best

“Truth is what works.”

— William James

Truth

“Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.”

— William James

Happiness

“Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible.”

— William James

Faith

“We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.”

— William James

Truth

“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.”

— William James

Attitude

“To change ones life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.”

— William James

Change

“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.”

— William James

Life

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

— William James

Great

“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.”

— William James

Nature

“Knowledge about life is one thing effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.”

— William James

Knowledge

“Those thoughts are truth which guide us to beneficial interaction with sensible particulars as they occur, whether they copy these in advance or not.”

— William James

Truth

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

— William James

Nature

“This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it.”

— William James

Life

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

— William James

Art

“Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.”

— William James

Great

“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.”

— William James

Attitude

“If the grace of God miraculously operates, it probably operates through the subliminal door.”

— William James

God