Quotes by William James

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.

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

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

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

The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments.

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

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.

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.

The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments.

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.