William James

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Biography of William James
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Quote	Categories	Rating	Rate
"The essence of genius is to know what to overlook."	Genius, Knowledge, Wisdom
"When a thing is new, people say: 'It is not true.' Later, when its truth becomes obvious, they say: 'It is not important.' Finally, when its importance cannot be denied, they say: 'Anyway, it is not new.'"	Honesty, Truth
"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact."	Faith, Fear, Help
"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."	Age, Faith, Knowledge
"An act has no ethical quality whatever unless it be chosen out of several all equally possible."	Equality
"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."	Accomplishment, Achievement, Age
"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"	Excellence, Men, Success
"There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it."	Honesty, Lies, Truth
"Religion is the monumental chapter in the history of human egotism."	History, Men, Religion
"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it."	Excellence, Life
"Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference."	Miscellaneous
"Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me."	Miscellaneous
"Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul None is more gladdening or fruitful than to know You can regenerate and make yourself what you will."	Beauty, Honesty, Knowledge
"Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his lttle finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed."	Excellence, Habits, Intelligence
"There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers."	Lies
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."	Attitude, Excellence, Life
"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."	Art, Knowledge, Wisdom
"The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts life."	Life
"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."	Attitude, Excellence, Life
"Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture."	Beginnings, Doubt, Faith
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Browse William James quotes by category:

Ability	Acceptance	Accomplishment
Achievement	Age	Art
Attitude	Beauty	Beginnings
Change	Decision-Making	Desires
Doubt	Equality	Excellence
Faith	Fear	Freedom
Genius	Habits	Happiness
Help	History	Honesty
Intelligence	Joy	Knowledge
Learning	Liberty	Lies
Life	Men	Miscellaneous
Monarchy	Nature	Reading
Religion	Sin	Success
Technology	Time	Truth
Wants	Wisdom