William James

Ranking: 64th
Biography of William James
Search William James's quotes

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Quote	Categories	Rating	Rate
"The essence of genius is to know what to overlook."	Genius, Knowledge, Wisdom
"Religion is the monumental chapter in the history of human egotism."	History, Men, Religion
"Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference."	Miscellaneous
"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
"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
"If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. Try the 'as if' technique."	Desires, Reading, Technology
"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision."	Ability, Decision-Making, Habits
"Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way."	Genius, Habits
"Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact."	Faith, Help, Intelligence
"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."	Attitude, Excellence, Life
"Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune."	Acceptance
"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact."	Faith, Fear, Help
"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
"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it."	Excellence, Life
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."	Excellence, Men, Monarchy
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."	Miscellaneous
"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
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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