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Events are influenced by our very great desires.

William James

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William James
Age: 68 †
Born: 1842
Born: January 11
Died: 1910
Died: August 26
Philosopher
Physician
Psychologist
University Teacher
W. James
Influenced
Desires
Events
Desire
Great

More quotes by William James

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There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.
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.
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Faith is one of the forces by which men live, and the total absence of it means collapse
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Life shall be built in doing and suffering and creating.
William James
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Men habitually use only a small part of the power which they actually possess.
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When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.
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My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.
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To neglect the wise sayings of great thinkers is to deny ourselves the truest education.
William James
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Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?
William James
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The bottom of being is left logically opaque to us, a datum in the strict sense of the word, something we simply come upon and find, and about which (if we wish to act) we should pause and wonder as little as possible. In this confession lies the lasting truth of empiricism.
William James
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Truth is something that happens to an idea.
William James
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Science can tell us what exists but to compare the worths, both of what exists and of what does not exist, we must consult not science, but what Pascal calls our heart.
William James
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If there is aught of good in the style, it is the result of ceaseless toil in rewriting. Everything comes out wrong with me at first but when once objectified in a crude shape, I can torture and poke and scrape and pat it till it offends me no more.
William James
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We must be careful not to confuse data with the abstractions we use to analyse them.
William James
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Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
William James
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Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.
William James
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Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Each lapse is like the letting fall of a ball of string which one is carefully winding up a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind again.
William James
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The most any one can do is to confess as candidly as he can the grounds for the faith that is in him, and leave his example to work on others as it may.
William James
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Where is it, this present? It has melted in our grasp, fled ere we could touch it, gone in the instant of becoming.
William James
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The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
William James