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Truth in our ideas means their power to work.
William James -
No decision is, in itself, a decision.
William James
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Our beliefs are really rules for action.
William James -
I am, myself, a very poor visualizer and find that I can seldom call to mind even a single letter of the alphabet in purely retinal terms. I must trace the letter by running my mental eye over its contour in order that the image of it shall leave any distinctness at all.
William James -
...By far the most usual way of handling phenomena so novel that they would make for a serious rearrangement of our preconceptions is to ignore them altogether, or to abuse those who bear witness for them.
William James -
New habits can be launched.
William James -
The function of ignoring, of inattention, is as vital a factor in mental progress as the function of attention itself.
William James -
Any object not interesting in itself may become interesting through becoming associated with an object in which an interest already exists. The two associated objects grow, as it were, together; the interesting portion sheds its quality over the whole; and thus things not interesting in their own right borrow an interest which becomes as real and as strong as that of any natively interesting thing.
William James
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Events are influenced by our very great desires.
William James -
A sense of humor is just common sense dancing.
William James -
Positive images of the future are a powerful and magnetic force... They draw us on and energize us, give us courage and will to take on important initiatives. Negative images of the future also have a magnetism. They pull the spirit downward in the path of despair.
William James -
So far war has been the only force that can discipline a whole community, and until an equivalent discipline is organized, I believe that war must have its way.
William James -
My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.
William James -
What excites and interests the looker-on at life, what the romances and the statues celebrate, and the grim civic monuments remind us of, is the everlasting battle of the powers of light with those of darkness; with heroism reduced to its bare chance, yet ever and anon snatching victory from the jaws of death.
William James
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One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.
William James -
The greatest weapon we have to combat stress is the ability to choose our thoughts.
William James -
Wisdom is learning what to overlook.
William James -
Every claim creates an obligation.
William James